


Her Last Year

by Castiel_Novak_79



Series: Hunters Series [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:21:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 62,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29548551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castiel_Novak_79/pseuds/Castiel_Novak_79
Summary: Averie made the deal of a lifetime to save her brother Andrew and this book deals with the consequences of said deal. It focuses on the year she has left after saving Andrew. Averie goes through the different stages of "Living like there's no tomorrow."
Series: Hunters Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2170158





	1. The Magnificent Seven

Suburban Neighbor Hood. Oak Park, Illinois. Night~

A man in his thirties, with red hair and a beard, exits the house with a bag of garbage. He takes it out to the garbage cans and stuffs it in. As he walks back to the house, the garbage cans rattle. He stares, walking cautiously towards them. They continue to rattle; he looks up and sees a demonic cloud swirling over the Chicago skyline in the distance.

Panicked, he runs back towards the house, but trips before he gets there. A tendril of demon smoke pours into his mouth. He opens his eyes; they are black. The now-possessed man stands, looking towards the rest of the demonic cloud now streaming towards chicago, and smiles.

-One Week Later-

Andrew is sitting in the Impala, reading a book. The header at the top of the page reads "Dr. Faustus". He looks up to see Averie inside the house across from him; she is wearing only an undershirt. Averie grins and gives him a double-thumbs up, at which he shakes his head, chuckling. Two women walk over to her and she shuts the curtains; they can be seen undressing each other in silhouette.

He sighs as the phone rings, “Hello?” “Hey, Andrew.” “Dean.” “What're you doing?” “Oh, Same old, Same old.” he says, sighing. “You buried in that book again?” he stays silent, “Andrew, you want to break Averie free of that demon deal, you ain't gonna find the answer in no book.” “Then where, Dean?” “Kid, I wish I knew. So, where's your sister?” “Polling the electorate.” he says jokingly. “What?” “Never mind.” “Well, you two better pack it up. I think I finally found something.” he hangs up.

Inside the house, Andrew knocks on the bedroom door, opening it slowly. “Av?” he asks cautiously, walking in, “Av, you -- you conscious? Dean called, and he thinks that maybe we --Oh God.” he looks away in disgust.

~Road.~

Andrew and Averie are in the Impala, Averie is driving. “Let me see your knife.” he says, she looks at him “Why?” “So I can gouge my eyes out.” “It was a beautiful, natural act, Andy.” “It's a part of you I never wanted to see, Av.” She laughs and hits him in the thigh, “Hey, I appreciate you giving me a little quality time with the Doublemint Twins.” “No problem.” he says quietly, “Really? Well, I got to say, I was expecting a weary sigh or an eye roll, something.” “Not at all. You deserve to have a little fun.”

“I'm in violent agreement with you there.” she chuckles then looks at his teary eyes, “What's Dean got?” “Not much. Crop failure and a cicada swarm outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. Could be demonic omens.” “Or could just be a bad crop and a bug problem.” “Yeah, but it's our only lead.” “Any freaky deaths?” “No, nothing he could find -- not yet,anyway.” “It's weird,man. I mean, the night the devil's gate opened, all these weirdo storm clouds were sighted over how many cities?” “Seventeen.” “Seventeen! You think it would be "Apocalypse Now," but it's been five days and bupkis.”

Andrew looks at her startled, she frowns “What are the demons waiting for?” “Beats me.” “It's driving me crazy. I tell you, if it's gonna be war, I wish it would just start already.” “I don't know, Av. Be careful what you wish for.”

-The Next Morning-

They pull up outside a farmhouse. Averie gets out eating a hamburger. The air is filled with the sound of cicadas, “Hear those cicadas?” he asks, “That can't be a good sign.”No. No, it can't.” Dean walks over to them, “So, we're eating bacon cheeseburgers for breakfast, are we?” She shrugs, “Well, I sold my soul. Got a year to live. I ain't sweating the cholesterol.” Andrew looks at him, “Bobby, what do you think? We got a biblical plague here or what?” “Well, let's find out. Looks like the swarm's ground zero.” Averie walks up to the door and knocks, “Candygram!”

She picks the lock and opens the door; she enters first, Andrew behind her with a gun drawn. They cover their noses in disgust, “That's awful.” he mutters, she nods “That so can't be a good sign.” They creep through the house; stopping in the second room, they can hear what sounds like panicked screams “You hear that?” She kicks open the next door; the sounds turn out to be coming from a television set; a family of three is seated on the couch, several days dead. Andrew and Averie recoil at the increased stench. “Oh, my god.” Dean enters through the other side of the room and also recoils in horror. “Dean, what the hell happened here?” “I don't know.”

Averie looks away, “Check for sulfur.” “Yeah.” The three of them investigate the room; Averie hears a noise out front and signals to the others that she's going to go check it out. Dean and Andrew circle around the other direction. Out front, she exits cautiously, gun drawn, and looks around. As she comes around the house she is knocked to the ground by a man with a shotgun: Dylan. His wife, Taylor, comes up behind him. Dean sees them and rushes over “Dylan? Taylor?” “Heya, Dean.” Averie raises an arm pitifully from the ground, “Hello. Bleeding here.”

~DYLAN AND TAYLOR’S PLACE~

Andrew, Dean, Dylan, and Taylor are in the living room together as Averie is on the phone in the next room, “Jenny! That is a beautiful name. That's my sister's name, actually.” Dylan looks over at Taylor “Honey? Where's the Palo Santo?” “Well, where'd you leave it?” “I don't know, dear. That's why I'm asking.” “Palo Santo?” Andrew asks, confused, “It's holy wood, from Peru. It's toxic to demons like holy water. Keeps the bastards nailed down while you're exorcising them.” She says as she digs in a bag and pulls out a large, pointed stake, she hands it to Dylan with an affectionate smile. “Thank you, dear.” “You'd lose your head if it wasn't for me.” He smiles at the two, “So, how long have you two been married?”

Taylor turns around “Eight years this past june.” Dylan chuckles, “The family that slays together…” “Right. I'm with you there. So, how'd you get started?” There’s an awkward silence, “I'm sorry. It's not -- that's none of my business.” “It's -- it's all right.” Averie starts to finnsih up with the phone, “Well, Jenny, if you look as pretty as you sound, then i'd love to have an appletini. Yeah, I’ll call you.” She walks into the living room, “That was the coroner's tech.” “And?” “Get this -- that whole family, cause of death? Dehydration and starvation. There's no signs of restraint, no violence,no struggle. They just sat down and never got up.” Dean looks up at her, “But there was a fully stocked kitchen just yards away.” “What is this, a demon attack?” “If it is, it's not like anything I ever saw, and I've seen plenty.” “Well, what now? What should we do?”

Dylan looks at Averie, “Uh, we're not gonna do anything.” “What do you mean?” “You guys seem nice enough, but this ain't "scooby-doo," and we don't play well with others.” “Well, I think we'd cover a lot more ground if we all worked together.” “No offense, but we're not teaming with the damn fools who let the Devil's Gate get opened in the first place.” Taylor looks at him, “Dylan. Like you've never made a mistake.” “Oh yeah, yeah. Locked my keys in the car, turned my laundry pink. Never brought on the end of the world,though.” “All right. That's enough.” Averie says, “Guys, this isn't helping. Av --” “Look,there are a couple hundred more demons out there now. We don't know where they are, when they'll strike. There ain't enough hunters in the world to handle something like this. You brought war down on us -- on all of us.”

Taylor starts pulling him away, “Okay. That's quite enough testosterone for now.” They leave the room. Later, Dean looks out the window, then shuts the curtains. Out of the darkness beyond the house, a mysterious young woman steps into the light. She stares at the house, calculating.

~SHOP. EVENING~

The red-headed man from the beginning of the chapter walks into a clothing shop. He approaches a blonde woman. “Excuse me.” he says, “Yes?” he places a hand on her shoulder and nods towards a shoe display across the room, “Those are...nice shoes.” “Oh, yeah. They are nice. She approaches the display, where a brunette woman is looking at a pair of green pumps, she stares at them covetously “Those are nice shoes.” “Aren't they?” “I want them.” “Sorry. Last pair.” The brunette woman takes them and goes to the register; the blonde woman stares after her intensely.

-

The blonde woman follows the brunette woman, who is now carrying a shopping bag, out to her car. “Excuse me. I want those shoes.” “What, are you crazy? No.” She attacks her, slamming her head into the windshield of her car. She cracks open her head and blood gushes out of her eye socket, staining the window. The blonde woman takes the shopping bag and walks off, unconcerned.

-

Policemen are taking forensic evidence at the murder scene as Andrew watches. He goes into the store. Averie is chatting up a witness, “What happened outside makes you realize how fragile life really is. You got to make every second count.” Andrew approaches, clearing his throat, she looks the witness in the eyes “Excuse me a minute, would you?” “Sure.” They walk away, “Av, what are you doing?” “I'm comforting the bereaved. What are you doing?” “Workin'. Dead body, possible demon attack -- that kind of stuff.” Averie coughs, “Andrew, I'm sorry. It's just, I don't have much time left,and...got to make every second count.” He stares at her, “Yeah, right. All right. Sorry.” she smiles “Apology accepted.”

Dean enters - in a suit. His hair is slicked back. Andrew and Averie look at him, impressed, Whoa. Looking spiffy, Dean. What were you, a g-man?” “Attorney for the D.A.'s office. I just spoke to the suspect.” “Yeah? so,what do you think? Is she possessed or what?” “Don't think so. There's none of the usual signs -- no blackouts, no loss of control. Totally lucid. Just,she really wanted those shoes. Spilled a glass of holy water on her just to be sure; nothing.” Averie shrugs “Maybe she's just some random whack job.” “If it had been an isolated incident,maybe, but first the family, now this? I believe in a lot of things. Coincidence ain't one of them. Did you two find anything around here?”

“No sulfur, nothing.” Andrew says, Averie smiles, “Well, maybe something.” she nods to a security camera in the ceiling and looks at him, “See? I'm working.”

-HOURS LATER-

Andrew leaves the store and walks up the street, hands in his pockets. Jade (the mysterious young woman who had earlier watched the house) slips onto the street several paces behind him and follows. He senses that he's being followed, stops, and turns, she is gone.

~BAR. NIGHT~

Dean and Averie are staking out a bar, sitting in Dean’s car. “What time is it?” he asks, “Seven past midnight.” “You sure this is the right place?” “No. But i spent all day canvassing this stupid town with this guy's stupid mug, and,supposedly, he drinks at this stupid bar.” There is a loud pounding on the window; they both jump. It is Andrew, who grins at their discomfort and slips into the back seat. She turns and hits his arm “That's not funny!” he grabs her hand and throws it away “Yeah. Uh,alright,so -- so, John Doe's name is Walter Rosen. He's from Oak Park, just west of Chicago. Went missing about a week ago.” “The night the Devil's Gate opened?” “Yeah.” “So you think he's possessed?” “It's a good bet. So, what, he just walks up to someone, touches them, and they go stark raving psycho?”

Dean sighs, “Those demons that got out at the gate -- they're gonna do all kinds of things we haven't seen.” “You mean the demons we let out?” Averie sees someone, “Guys..” Walter Rosen gets out of his car and walks towards the bar, “All right. Showtime.” she says unbuckling, Dean stops her “Wait a minute.” “What?” “What did I just say? We don't know what to expect out of this guy. We should tail him till we know for sure.” She scoffs “Oh,so he kills someone and we just sit here with our junk in our hands?” “We're no good dead! And we're not gonna make a move until we know what the score is.” Andrew frowns “Hey, Dean, I don't think that's an option.” “Why not?” he nods, indicating another car that has just entered the lot: Dylan and Taylor get out and head towards the bar. “Damn it!”

-

A woman puts a song on the jukebox; the bartender slides a beer towards Walter, who is sitting at the bar. At a table, a waitress sets down drinks for Dylan and Taylor. “Thanks a lot.” “You're welcome.” He pulls out a flask of holy water; Taylor eyes him, Walter walks past them towards the bathroom. “Pull the car in back. We'll be right out.” he says, “I love you.” “I know.” As Dylan heads towards the bathroom, the Bartender grabs his arm and stops him. “What do you think you're doing?” “I'm just hitting the head.” “No,” he grabs the flask of holy water and tosses it aside “I mean, what do you think you're doing here?” His eyes flash black; Taylor stands behind Dylan and they both recoil in fear. “I don't like hunters in my bar.” The hunters turn to see the Waitress stalking towards them, and see that the rest of the employees and patrons have turned towards them. Walter walks back out of the bathroom. He and everyone else in the bar close in around them; all have black demon-eyes.

There is a loud pounding on the door and everyone turns towards it. Averie and Dean slam themselves against the door, trying to force it open. “Man, you really walked into the wrong place.” “Hold on. I like the girl. Wish I had me a girl like that. I can think of about a thousand things i'd like to do to her.” the waitress says, Dylan struggles against them “You're not gonna lay one filthy finger on her!” One demon possessing a man moves towards Dylan, “I got something for you.” He lifts a large bottle of drain cleaner, “Here. Have a drink on me, hmm?” “Isaac?” The demon chuckles, “On the house!” “Dylan!” He takes the bottle and begins pouring its contents down his throat, as Taylor screams in the background and the demons cackle wildly.

“Isaac, no! Baby, please!” Dylan drains the bottle, shaking, and drops it to the floor. He gags in agony, foamy liquid and blood bubbling out through his mouth. He chokes and collapses to the floor, dead. “Oh, he's down! All right,honey. Your turn!” With a screech of tires, Dean’s car bursts through the front door of the bar. Dean, Andrew, and Averie get out, armed with holy water, which they fling violently into the crowd of demons. They back up and Andrew grabs Taylor, who is still screaming frantically for Dylan. “Come on,we got to go! He's dead! Get in the car!” he turns around and sees Averie still emersed in battle, “Averie, let’s go!”

Averie has entered combat with the demon possessing Walter; she opens the trunk just as she runs out of holy water; the demon grins. She overpowers him and stuffs him in the trunk, which is inscribed with a Devil's Trap. He screams, she tumbles into the front seat of the car, “Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!”

~DYLAN AND TAYLOR’S~

Walter is tied to a chair under a Devil's Trap on the ceiling; in the next room, an argument is ongoing. “...and I say we're going back -- now!” Taylor yells, Andrew sighs “Hold on a second.” “I left my husband bloody on the floor!” “Okay, I understand that, but we can't go back.” “Fine. Then you stay. But I'm heading back to that bar.” Averie looks up, “I’ll go with her.” “It's suicide, Av!” “So what? I'm dead already!” “How are you gonna kill 'em? Can't shoot 'em. You can't stab 'em. They're not just gonna wait in line to get exorcised!” “I don't care!” “We don't even know how many of them there are!”

Dean walks in, “Yeah, we do. There's seven. Do you have any idea who we're up against?” Averie shakes her head. “No. Who?” “The seven deadly sins, live and in the flesh!” She grins, "’What's in the box?!’.” there’s an awkward silence, “Brad pitt? "Se7en"? No?” Dean throws a book at her, she catches it “What’s this?” “"Binsfeld's classification of demons." In 1589, Binsfeld ID'd the seven sins -- not just as human vices but as actual devils.” Andrew frowns, “The family -- they were touched by Sloth. And the shopper…” “That's Envy's doing -- the customer we got in the next room. I couldn't suss it out at first, until Dylan. He was touched with an awful Gluttony.”

Taylor glares at them, “I don't give a rat's ass if they're the Three Stooges or the Four Tops! I'm gonna slaughter every last one of them!” “We already did it your way. You burst in there half-cocked and look what happened! These demons haven't been topside in half a millennium! We're talking medieval, dark ages! We've never faced anything close to this! So we are gonna take a breath… And figure out what our next move is!” They walk into the room that Envy’s in, “So you know who I am, huh?” “We do. We're not impressed.” Andrew looks at him, “Why are you here? What are you after?” Envy just stares at him, Averie steps forward “He asked you a question. What do you want?” Envy chuckles condescendingly; she opens a flask of holy water and splashes him. “Ya! ohh! We already have what we want.” “What's that?” “We're out. We're free. Thanks to you, my kind are everywhere. I am legion, for we are many. So me, I'm just celebrating. Having a little fun.”

Andrew shakes his head, “Fun?” “Yeah. Fun. See, some people crochet. Others golf. Me? I like to see people's insides... on their outside.” Taylor makes a fist, “I'm gonna put you down like a dog.” “Please. You really think you're better than me. Which one of you can cast the first stone, huh? What about you, Averie? You're practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust. And Taylor. All that wrath. Ooh. tsk,tsk,tsk. It's the reason you and Dylan became hunters in the first place, isn't it? It's so much easier to drink in the rage than to face what really happened all those years ago.”Taylor smacks him across the face, “My point exactly. And you call us sins. We're not sins, man. We are natural human instinct. And you can repress and deny us all you want, but the truth is, you are just animals. Horny... greedy... hungry...violent animals. And you know what? You'll be slaughtered like animals, too. The others -- they're coming for me.”

Averie glares at Envy, “Maybe. But they're not gonna find you... 'cause you'll be in hell. Someone send this clown packing.” “My pleasure. Exorcizamus te, Omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica…” As she continues, the others leave and Envy screams. Dean sighs, “I don't think we're gonna have to worry about hunting them.” “What does that mean?” “I think maybe this joker's right. They're gonna be hunting us. And they're not gonna quit easy.” Averie nods, “You guys, why don't you take Taylor and head for the hills? I'll stay back, slow them down, buy you a little time.” “You're insane, Av. Just forget about it, okay?” “Andrew’s right.” She looks at them sadly, “There's six of them, guys. We're outmanned, we're outgunned. We'll be dead by dawn.”

“Maybe, but there's no place to run that they won't find us.” she turns away from them, Andrew moves in front of her, “Look, if we're going down, we're going down together, all right?” “Then let's not make it easy for them.” From the other room, Envy gives a final scream; the house shakes and a gust blows out the candles. Taylor slams the book shut and comes into the room. “Demon's out of the guy.” “And the guy?” “He didn't make it.”

-

Averie is seated on the floor with a row of candles behind her, loading a shotgun. Andrew is across the room filling flasks with holy water. He looks over at Averie, who is looking back at him. They watch each other silently for a moment until the lights begin to flicker. They look around. An old radio sparks to life, playing a scratchy tune. She cocks the shotgun and stands “Here we go.” Outside, a demon in Dylan’s body approaches. “Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Help me! Please!” Taylor stares at him, “Taylor! I got away, but I'm hurt bad! I need help!” Dean walks over to her “It's not him. It's one of those demons. It's possessing his corpse.” He pounds on the door, “Baby! Why won't you let me in? You left me behind back there. How could you do that? We swore... At that lake in Michigan. Remember? We swore we would never leave each other!”

“How did he know that?” “Steady.” “You just gonna leave me out here? You just gonna let me die?! I guess that's what you do, dear! Like that night those things came to our house... came for our daughter! You just let her die, too.” “You son of a bitch!” “Taylor, no!” She pushes the door open, breaking the salt line, and tackles ‘Dylan’ down the steps. She lands on top of him and raises the Palo Santo, “You're not Dylan!” She plunges the wood deep into his chest; it sizzles, and he screams. The other six demons cross the broken salt line and enter the house. One, an overweight middle-aged guy, corners Dean, who backs up slowly. He stalks Dean confidently, smiling, until he stops as if he's run into an invisible wall. He looks around, confused. He is under another ceiling-devil's-trap. He looks at him, pleading. Dean smiles, “Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”

In another hallway, Averie is cornered by the waitress (Lust). They fight; she advances on her. Meanwhile, Dean begins reading the exorcism for Sloth, the demon he has trapped. “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus Spiritus, omnis satanica…” Averie is backed into the bathroom, “I suppose you're Lust.” “Baby, I'm whatever you want me to be.” “Just stay back.” “Or what?” “Good point.” “I'm not gonna hurt you -- not yet. Not unless you want me to.” She runs a hand along her shoulder; she looks down at her, then falls into her embrace, they kiss passionately. Upstairs, a demon kicks a door clear across the room. Andrew looks around as the demon - a young man in a business suit - enters. “Here's Johnny!” he advances confidently as Andrew backs up; then stops, holding up a hand to hold back the two demons flanking him. He looks up to the devil's trap on the ceiling and smirks.

“Come on. You really think something like that is gonna fool someone like me? I mean, me?” “Let me guess -- you're Pride.” Pride grins and gestures to the ceiling. A long splitting crack appears, destroying the symbol. “The root of all sin. And you... are Andrew Walker. That's right. I've heard of you. We've all heard of you. The prodigy. The boy king. Looking at you now, I got to tell you, don't believe the hype. You think I'm gonna bow to a cut-rate, piss-poor human like you? I have my pride, after all. And now with your yellow-eyed friend dead, I guess I don't really have to do a damn thing, now do I? You're fair game now, boy, and it's open season.” Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Averie is backing up, still kissing Lust, until she hits a shower curtain. In one move she flips them around, pulls open the shower curtain, and plunges her face-first into the bathtub. It is filled with holy water; she screams in agony.

Upstairs, Pride knocks Sam to the ground, then pulls him up with an arm wrapped around his throat and begins strangling him. The mysterious young woman, Jade, appears, a knife strapped to her right thigh. She pulls the knife out, grits her teeth, and slashes the throat of the first demon (Gluttony). Fiery light appears in the cut, and he goes down - dead. “You!” She turns to the second demon, Greed, who punches her twice, she plunges the knife upwards into its chin. It also goes down. Pride lets Andrew go to tackle Jade; Andrew pulls him away and punches him in the face, putting him right into the path of Jade’s knife. She plunges it upward into his chin, and he collapses in a shower of sparks and demonic energy. “Who the hell are you?” “I'm the girl that just saved your ass.” “Well, I just saved yours, too.” “See you around, Andrew.” “Wait! He goes into the hall to follow her, but she is already gone.”

-

The next morning, Andrew and Averie pile the corpses of the demons that didn't survive into a shallow pit and begin pouring salt and fuel over them. Several yards away, Taylor is standing in front of another pyre: Dylan’s. He looks over at her, “Think she's gonna be alright?” “No. Definitely not.” Dean comes out of the house, looking exhausted. Averie chuckles “Well, you look like hell warmed over.” “You try exorcising all night and see how you feel.” “Any survivors, Dean?” “Well, the pretty girl and the heavy guy, they'll make it. Lifetime of therapy bills ahead, but, still…” “That's more than you can say for these poor bastards.” Averie says, Andrew frowns “De, that knife -- what kind of blade can kill a demon?” “Yesterday, I would have said there was no such thing”

She looks at him, “I'm just gonna ask it again -- who was that masked chick? Actually, the more troubling question would be, "how come another girl can fight better than you?".” “Three demons, Averie. At once.” “Hey, whatever it takes to get you through the night, pal.” “Yeah, well, if you want a troubling question, I got one for you.” “What's that?” “If we let out the seven deadly sins, what else did we let out?” “You're right. That is troubling.” she lights a matchbook and tosses it onto the pyre.

-

The bonfires have settled down and they prepare to leave, Taylor sighs “See you around.” Dean nods, “Taylor? The world just got a lot scarier. Be careful.” “You too.” She gets in her car and takes off. He turns to Averie and Andrew “Keep your eyes peeled for omens. I'll do the same.” “You got it.” Andrew stops him, “Wait, Dean. We can win this war, right?” he pauses, “Catch you on the next one.” Averie sighs as Dean goes to his car “So, where to?” “Uh, I don't know. I was thinking about Louisiana maybe.” “Little early for Mardi Gras, isn't it?” “Yeah. Listen, I was talking to Taylor, and she mentioned this hoodoo priestess outside of Shreveport that might be able to help us out. You know, with your -- with your demon deal.”

Averie shakes her head, “Nah.” “"Nah"? What do you mean,"nah"?” “Andrew, no hoodoo spells are gonna break this deal. It's a goose chase.” We don't know that.” “Yes, we do. Forget it. She can't help. We're not going, and that's that. What about Reno, huh?” He looks at her upset, “You know what? I've had it. I've been bending over backwards trying to be nice to you, and...I don't care anymore.” “That didn't last long.” “Yeah, well, you know what? I've been busting my ass trying to keep you alive, Av, and you act like you couldn't care less. What, you got some kind of death wish or something?” “It's not like that.” “Then what's it like, huh?” “Andrew--” “Please, tell me.”

“We trap the crossroads demon, trick it, try to welch our way out of the deal in any way? You die. Okay? You die. Those are the terms. There's no way out of it. If you try to find a way, so help me god, I'm gonna stop you.” “How could you make that deal, Averie?” “'Cause I couldn't live with you dead. Couldn't do it.” “So, what, now I live and you die?” “That's the general idea, yeah.” “Yeah,well, you're a hypocrite. How did you feel when Dad sold his soul for you? 'Cause I was there. I remember. You were twisted and broken, you started to drift away from bottle to bottle, cried yourself to sleep. And now you go and do the same thing. To me. What you did was selfish.” “Yeah, you're right. It was selfish. But I'm okay with that.” “I'm not.” “Tough. After everything I've done for this family, I think I'm entitled. Truth is, I'm tired, Andrew. Of everything. I don't know, it's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.”

He tears up, “It's hellfire, Av.” “Whatever. You're alive, I feel good -- for the first time in a long time. I got a year to live, Andrew. I'd like to make the most of it. So what do you say we kill some evil sons of bitches and we raise a little hell, huh?” “You're unbelievable.” “Very true.”


	2. The Kids are Alright

~Family Home. Cicero, Indiana. Night~

A young mother is standing outside her house with a mix of worry and impatience. A car pulls up into the driveway; a girl of about ten years steps out, as does her father. "Thanks for driving her back here." she says, the father sighs "It's not like I had a choice. She pitched a fit." She looks down at the girl, "Hey,sweetie. What's wrong?" "Nothing. I missed you." "Okay, but tonight's your Dad's night." "No. I don't like Dad's night. I don't want Dad to have a night anymore." "Since when? You used to love going to your Dad's house. You know, he loves you, and he misses you a lot." "But I hate it there!" "You don't hate it." "Yes, I do! He's mean, and there are monsters there. I don't w-want to go back. Please don't let the monsters get me." "Okay, sweetie. Okay." She guides the girl back into the house, and the father leaves.

~Father's Workout Room~

The little girl's father is in his workroom; there are wood-carved objects sitting about, and one of those circular table saws you really don't want to see show up in a horror movie. He prepares to leave, and as he's shutting off the lights by the door, the table saw turns itself on. Curious, he approaches it, crouching down at table-height to shut it off. As he starts to leave a second time, the saw turns on again. This time he is less careful as he approaches, he trips and falls on the saw and dies a horrible gruesome death.

~Diner. Kingston, Pennsylvania. An hour later~

Andrew is sitting at a table in a generic diner, working on his laptop and talking on his phone. Averie is nowhere to be seen. He seems a bit frantic, "What do you mean you don't think it will work, Dean? It's a demon-dispelling ritual. (..) Well, maybe we got the translation wrong. Look, we can't just let Averie fry in hell while we... there's got to be something." he looks and sees her walking over, "Yeah. No. I gotta go. Okay. Never mind." "Hey. Who was that?" "I was just.. ordering pizza." "Dude, you do realize that you're in a restaurant?" "Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I just felt like pizza, you know? It's from that place just over the bridge-" "Okay, Weirdy Mcweirderton. So, I think I got something."

"Yeah?" "Cicero, Indiana. Falls on his own power saw." he holds his hand up, "And? That, that's it? One power saw?" "Well...yeah." "And you think that this is a case?" "Well, I don't know. Could be." "I don't know, Av." "Okay, there's something better in Cicero than just a case." "And that is?" "Skylar Amores." "Should I even ask?" he says, rolling his eyes. She smiles "Remember that road trip I took, uh... gosh,about eight years ago now? You were in Orlando with dad wrapping up that banshee thing." "Yeah. The five states, ten-months--" "Well, kind of. Although I spent most of my time in Skylar Amores's loft." "So let me get this straight. You want to drive all the way to Cicero just to hook up with some random chick?" "She was a yoga teacher and part time nurse. It was the bendiest time of my life. Come on. have a heart, huh? It's my dying wish." "How many dying wishes are you gonna get?" "As many as I can squeeze out. Come on. Smile, Andrew! God knows I'm gonna be smiling after 24 hours with Gumby girl." She chuckles to herself, " _Gumby girl_. Does that make me Pokey?"

~Skylar Amores's House, Late Morning~

Outside a nicely kept suburban house, Averie rings the doorbell. The door opens to reveal Skylar: late twenties, pink hair, very fit; she is gorgeous. Averie smiles awkwardly, Skylar stares at her in surprise. "Sky. How's it going? Wow. So, how long has it been?" "Eight, going on nine years now." "Crazy,right?" "Yeah. So, what are you doing here?" "Oh, I was just passing through, and I couldn't resist. I remember that you love surprises." "Yeah. Averie Walker. Wow. Just...wow. I'm -- I'm sorry. You kind of came at a bad time. We're having a party." "A party? Well, I love parties." She nudges past her and enters the house; Skylar takes a deep breath and shuts the door behind them. She leads her into the backyard, which is decorated for a kid's birthday party. "So, uh, who's the party for?" "Noah." "Oh. It's his-"

"Yep." She gestures across the yard to a young boy wearing a black jacket and jeans. He is opening presents, Averie looks at him sadly "That's him." he looks at the CD he's holding, "Yes! AC/DC rules!" "Uh, How old--" "Eight." the mother from the beginning of the chapter walks in the yard, Skylar sees her, "Averie, could you excuse me?" "Yeah, sure. Don't mind me." Two women are sitting in lawn chairs, watching Averie pace awkwardly. They're whispering to each in gossiping tones, "Did you hear Skylar call her "Averie"?" "Yeah. Why?" "You don't know about Averie? The Averie. Kicked-Out-Had-No-Place Averie." "No. Tell me." "Okay, so, she showed up at Skylar's door --"

She cuts off as she sees Averie approach, "Hi." "Hi, there." "Hello." Averie looks very uncomfortable, smiles nervously, and walks away. She finds Noah eating a piece of cake, "What's up?" "What's up with you?" "So, it's your birthday?" "Guilty." She smiles, "It's a cool party." "Dude, it's so freakin' sweet. And this moon bounce --it's epic." "Yeah. It's pretty awesome." "You know who else thinks they're awesome? Girls. It's like a hot-chick city out there." A woman and her little girl walk by; in unison, Averie checks out the mom as Noah checks out the girl. Averie looks back, looks at Noah, "Your Mom's in the house, right?" "Yeah."

-Kitchen-

Skylar is talking to the Mom, who is looking very frazzled. "So...how you holding up?" "Fine." "Really?" "Oh, you know. I just... never mind." "What?" "It's just... I'm worried about Katie. I think there might be something...wrong with her." Skylar smiles sympathetically, "Of course there is. The poor girl just lost her dad. She's devastated." "No. That's not what I'm talking about. There is something really... wrong with her. I'm not sure that Katie is...Katie." "What?" "I'm not sure that's my daughter." "I know you're grieving, but you can't talk like that. Katie needs you.but you don't understand -- seriously. we're gonna get you help. It'll be okay."

As Averie enters, Katie's mother shakes her head, runs outside to her daughter. Averie watches her leave, confused. " _Katie? Come on,we're leaving._ " "So, I, uh, talked with Noah. Cool kid." "Yeah." "I couldn't help but notice that, uh, he's turning eight. And you helped.. Does he know?" "Are you trying to ask if he knows that you're his mother?" "Sort of. He doesn't know does he?" "No, he's still young." "Right. Anyway, something wrong with your friend?" "She's been through a lot. Her ex just died in this horrible accident." "Oh, yeah. Didn't I just read about that? The power saw." "Yeah. Guess there's been a lot of bad luck in the neighborhood lately." "What kind of bad luck?"

~Rally's Diner~

Andrew is sitting alone in a diner again, again with his laptop open. A young woman sits down across from him: it is Jade, "Hello, Andrew." "You've been following me since Lincoln." "Not much gets by you, huh?" she takes a few of the fries from his plate, and chuckles "These are amazing. It's like a deep-fried crack. Try some." "That knife you had. You can kill demons with that thing?" "Sure comes in handy when I have to swoop in and save the damsel in distress." "Where did you get it?" "Skymall." "Why are you following me?" "I'm interested in you." "Why?" "Because you're tall. And I love a tall man. And then there's the whole Antichrist thing." He looks at her confused, "Excuse me?" "Generation of psychic kids, yellow-eyed demon rounds you up, celebrity death-match ensues. You're the sole survivor."

"How do you know about that?" she shrugs, "I'm a good hunter. So, yellow eyes had some pretty big plans for you, Andrew." ""Had" being the keyword." "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Ding-dong, the demon's dead. Good job with that. It doesn't change the fact that you're special... in that Anthony Michael Hall E.S.P. visions kind of way." He glares at her, "No. That's stuff's not happening anymore. Not since Yellow-Eyes died." "Well, I'm thinking you're still a pretty big deal. I mean, after all that business with your mom." "What about my mom?" "You know, what happened to her friends." she looks at his attempt of a poker-face, "You... don't know. You've got a little bit of catching up to do, my friend. So, why don't you look into your mom's pals, and then give me a call and we'll talk again? And, by the way, you do know there's a job in this town, right?"

~Motel Room~

Andrew walks into the room and sees Averie sitting on the bed, "Hey." "Dude, there is a job here." "Really?" "Yeah. You know that one freak accident we read about in the paper? There's four more that never even made the paper, all in this Morning Hill gated community. People falling off of ladders and drowning in their jacuzzis all over the neighborhood." "That is weird." "Yeah, something's up. Something these nice, big gates can't protect them from."

~Katie's Home, Later~

Katie's Mom is dozing, with the book The Historian on the pillow, Katie stands in the door way watching her. "Katie. What are you doing?" "Play with me, mommy." She gets up, "Okay. Sure. Yeah let's, um, let's play." "Oh, good. I love you, Mommy." "I love you too, sweetie." She grabs her Mom's hand and looks up, "I'm hungry, Mommy." "Okay."

~Suburban Home~

Andrew, dressed in a dark suit and posing as an insurance agent, is speaking to another young mother. "So, once again, I'm very sorry to disturb you. We just really want to expedite that life-insurance policy." she nods, "Of course. Okay." She takes him around back, where a ladder leans against the wall, "This is, um, where he fell." "I see. Now, how exactly did he --" "He was just inside changing a light bulb. Must have lost his balance." He looks at the ladder, "Were you here when this happened?" "No. I was out. Uh, the only one here was our daughter, Dakota." She gestures inside, where Dakota, who looks rather creepy, is looking out at them. Something dark red is smudged on the window. "Okay. Okay. well, uh, I think that's all I need. I'll get out of your way now." "Thank you." She turns and goes up the steps with Andrew behind her. He sees a strange bruise on the back of her neck.

~Katie's House~

Katie sits at the table with a slice of pizza, "Thank you, Mommy." "You eat. Mommy will be right back." Frazzled almost to the point of breaking, she quickly goes in the bathroom and shuts the door. She leans over the sink, "Mommy?" Katie knocks on the door, "Just -- just give mommy a second." "Let me in. Mommy! Let me in. Mommy! Let me in! What are you doing?! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!" "Give me a minute." The pounding and rattling continue to build, until it stops suddenly. There's a soft knock on the front door, she goes out to the front door with Katie following, she opens the door, a middle-aged woman is holding out a gift basket.

The woman looks down at Katie, "Aren't you just the cutest thing?" "Oh, thank you. Uh, Katie, could you put these in the kitchen, please?" Katie takes the basket and goes to the kitchen, "She seems okay, considering-" "She's fine. Yeah. Um, look, I'm --" "And you -- how are you doing really?" "I'm fine. look, we're fine. Um,this isn't a good time." "I wasn't sure if you were keeping the house or selling. We at Cicero Realty would like --" "Look, I told you, it's not a good time!" She shuts the door and goes back into the kitchen, where Katie greets her. "I want ice cream. Mommy. Ice cream, please."

~Park~

Noah is sitting sadly on a park bench. Averie sees him, goes over and sits next to him, "Hey, Noah." he looks up "Hey. You were at my party." "Yeah. Yeah, I'm Averie. Everything okay? Something wrong?" She looks over to a group of boys that are playing with a gameboy-type thing, "Is that your game they're playing with?" "Ryan Humphrey borrowed it, and now he won't give it back." "Well, you want me to go..." He shakes his head "No! Don't go over there! Only bitches send a grown-up." "You're not wrong." "I'm not a bitch." She points at the one boy, "Is that Humphrey? The one that needs to lay off the burgers?" Noah nods, smiling slightly. Averie leans in and whispers to him.

He walks across the park to the group of boys. They are all bigger than him, "Ryan. I'd like my game back, please." Ryan chuckles, "Fine. Take it back." Noah looks back at Averie, nervous; she gives him an encouraging thumbs-up. He looks back at Ryan, then turns as if to leave. "See? Told you guys he was a--" Ryan cuts off as Noah turns back suddenly and kicks him hard between the legs. Ryan crumples to the ground, and he takes the game back. He goes back to the bench and a grinning Averie, "Thanks. Dude, that was awesome!" Skylar, who has seen the end of the exchange rushes over, "Noah Oliver Amores! What's gotten into you?" "He stole my game." "So you kick him? Since when is..."

She looks at Averie, who loses her grin, "Did you tell my son to beat up that kid?" "What? Somebody had to teach him how to kick the bully in the nads." "Who asked you to teach him anything?" "Just relax." "What are you even still doing here? I helped you and you promised you would never come back. You don't truly know me. You have no business with _my_ son." "Skylar." "Just leave us alone! It was a mistake to even let you see him!" She and Noah begin to leave, but Noah pulls out of her grip and runs back to give Averie a hug. "Noah!" "Thank you." He runs back to Skylar and they leave. Averie tears up as they leave, she watches Noah sadly.

~Katie's House, Night~

Katie's Mom is strapping her into her car seat, which is made difficult by the fact that Katie keeps touching and petting her. "I love you most in the whole wide world, Mommy." "Um, me too, sweetie. Come on, hold still." She checks the mirror and sees a monster in the backseat, she turns around to look but Katie looks normal. "What's wrong, Mommy?" "Nothing, sweetie." "Are we going for ice cream now?" "Yeah, we're going for ice cream." She finishes strapping Katie in, and gets in the driver's seat. She drives the car to the edge of a lake, gets out, and rolls the car in. Katie turns and watches her Mom as she goes down. She sighs in relief and returns home, slamming and locking the door behind her. In the kitchen, seated over a puddle of water, is Katie. She is dripping wet, "Can I have the ice cream now?"

~Motel Room.~

Andrew is at his computer, doing research. Averie walks in, "Something's wrong with the kids in this town." "Yeah. Tell me about it." he is looking at several documents on Changelings, he looks at her "So, what do you know about changelings?" "Evil monster babies?" "No, not necessarily babies." She thinks for a moment, "The kids. Creepy, "stare at you like you're lunch" kids?" "Yeah. There's one at every victim's house." Later, Andrew is seated on the bed doing more research, as Averie prepares a kerosene torch. He turns to her, "So, changelings can perfectly mimic children. According to lore, they climb in the window, snatch the kid. There were marks on the windowsill at one of the kid's houses. Looked to me like blood."

In Katie's house, her Mom is asleep, with a bottle of pills on the bedside table. Katie stares at her, brushes back the hair from her neck to reveal an 'odd bruise'. Her face morphs to look kind of like the fluke man from X-Files, and she leans into Mom's neck.

"The changeling grabs a kid, assumes its form, joins the happy fam just for kicks?" Averie asks, "Not quite. Changelings feed on the mom: synovial fluid. The moms have these odd bruises on the back of their necks. Changelings can drain them for a few weeks before mom finally croaks." "And then there's dad and the babysitter." He nods, "Yeah. Seems like anyone who gets between the changeling and its food source ends up dead." she holds up the torch "And fire's the only way to waste them?" "Yup." She chuckles, "Great. We'll just bust in, drag the kids out, torch them on the front lawn. That'ill play great with the neighbors. What about the real ones? What happens to them?" 

"According to lore, they stash them underground somewhere. I don't know why, but if it's true, the real kids might be out there." Averie sighs, "We better start looking...So, any kid in the neighborhood is vulnerable?" "Yeah." "We gotta make a stop. I want to check on someone." "Well Av, if the real kids are still alive, we don't have time. We—" "We have to."

~Skylar's House~

Averie rings the doorbell, and Skylar opens the door looking bewildered, "Averie? What a—"  
she smiles softly, "I was thinking... Noah's birthday. I didn't even bring him a present." "That's okay." "No. No, no, I feel terrible, so, uh..." she hands her a credit card "Here. Take a long weekend – just the two of you – on me." "What?" "Yeah, I hear Six Flags is great this time of year. Go now. Avoid the traffic." Skylar looks down and reads the name on the card, ""Siegfried Houdini." Whose card is this?" "Mine...Never mind. It'll work. I promise." "You should leave.""Skylar..." Noah walks down the stairs, "Mommy, what's wrong?" Averie looks up at him, "It's nothing Noah, It's cool."

"Make her go away." he says, tonelessly, she tears up. "You heard him. Get out." Skylar says, "Sky... I don't think that's a good idea." "Get out!" An hour later, Averie watches them from outside the house. Skylar is reading a book, Noah is sitting with an open book, staring at his adoptive mother. She notices a damp red mark on a couple of window frames, she runs back to Andrew, who's in the Impala. "They took Noah. He's changed." "What?! Are you sure?" "Yeah, I'm sure. I checked his windowsill." "Blood?" "I don't think it is blood, and I think I know where the kids are."

~House-Under Construction~

There's a large mound of dirt outside the semi-finished home, with a "Cicero Realty For Sale" sign. Andrew picks some up and inspects it on his fingers, "Red dirt. That's what was on the window." "Ah, you take the front. I'll go around." Inside, Averie and Andrew wander about with flashlights. She hears a noise in the basement and goes to inspect, finding a series of cages, each containing abducted kids. She sees Noah, "Noah... Noah... it's okay. I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? Suddenly, the Cicero Real Estate Lady (Red-haired lady from Katy's house) enters and sees Andrew. "What do you think you're doing?" he sees her monster-like reflection in a pane of glass, "This is private property. I'm calling the police." 

Averie is moving around the cages. She finds the real version of the Real Estate Woman in a cage. "You heard me! Get out!" she yells and advances slowly towards him, he reaches for his bag. "Ah, I could — just let me get my bag. I'm going. I, I don't mean to cause any trouble."He reaches for his bag and pulls out a flame-thrower which he aims at her; there is a whooshing noise and she has apparently disappeared. Andrew looks around. Averie opens Noah's cage, she pulls him out of the cage and hugs him. "Come on. Let's go." she sets him down and ruffles his hair. "All right, come on."

~Skylar's House~

'Noah' starts acting like a Creepy Child, standing stiff-armed in the living room. Skylar is deeply engrossed in her book, "Mommy?" "Noah..." "Play with me." "This isn't funny anymore. I put you to bed three times already." He walks over and hugs her, "I don't want to go to bed. I want to be with you, Mommy." "That's sweet, hon." "I'm hungry." She gets up, "Mini pizzas okay? Deluxe is all we've got." "Okay." "That's funny – I thought we were anti-olives this month."

She looks down at the table and sees 'Noah's' reflection in the glass table; it has the icky Fluke-man face, she gasps.

~House Under-Construction~

Averie breaks open the other cages, she and Noah help children out, "It's okay. You're gonna get out of here, all right? Hurry!" he yells, "Come on, kids! Come on! Keep moving, keep moving.Okay, everybody back! Everybody back!" She clears off a windowsill and prepares to smash the glass, he helps to usher the other kids away "Cover your eyes!" she breaks the window with a plank of wood, and begins to brush the glass off. He takes off his jacket, "Here. Use this." "All right. All right, Noah. Come on. Come on." he nudges another kid forward, "Him first." 

Andrew runs in, "Hey! Averie! There's a mother." she turns to him, "A mother changeling?" "Yeah. We got to get these kids out quick." "Right there, right there. There's one more. You got to break the lock!" He nods, "I guess that's why the changelings are keeping the kids alive – so the mom can snack on them." He breaks the lock and frees the Real-Estate Lady, "There. Come on, I gotcha." The real Katie screams as she sees the mother changeling behind her.

~Skylar's house~

"What's wrong, Mommy?" 'Noah' asks, "You're not my son." she says, backing away. "Yes, I am.""Where's Noah?" "I'm Noah. I love you, Mommy." Skylar runs out the front door, grabbing her keys along the way. On the front lawn, a line of three Creepy Kids has formed, blocking her exit. They start to advance towards her, she runs back inside and slams the door, turning around to see 'Noah' "They don't want you to leave me, Mommy."

~House Under-Construction~

Averie goes flying and lands on her back, groaning in pain. The Changeling Mom turns around, Andrew has the flamethrower and a lighter. She kicks the lighter out of his hand, then roundhouse kicks him again, then throws a few punches and generally kicks his ass, before throwing him across the room. Averie has gotten to her feet, and lunges after her with a 2x4. She punches and knocks Averie down again, "Noah, get them out of here!" Averie, on her knees, grabs a brick and surges to her feet again to clock the Changeling Mom.  
  


Noah helps the other kids up and out the window, and climbs out himself, as she fights with the Changeling Mom. Eventually the Changeling Mom faces her and Andrew to see Andrew with the torch; he burns her to a crisp with Averie's homemade torch. As she goes up in flames, " _Noah"_ , " _Katie_ ", and all the other changeling kids, also disappear in flames, screaming "Aaaaahhh!" and "Mommy!"

~Skylar's House, Morning~

Averie and Andrew drive Noah back home; he runs out to hug his mom. "Noah?! Noah! Baby, are you okay?" "I'm okay, Mom." "Oh, my god. What the hell just happened?" she looks up at Averie. "I'll explain everything if you want me to, but, trust me, you probably don't. The important thing is, is that Noah's safe." "Thank you." she hugs her, "Thank you." Andrew smiles, "I'm gonna give you guys some time." "Come on." she says to Averie, taking Noah's hand.

  
-

Noah is sitting at the kitchen table, listening to something on his portable CD player. Averie and Skylar talk in the hallway, "Changelings?" "You know how I never mentioned my job? This is my job." "I so didn't want to know that." she looks at Noah, "Do you think he'll be okay?" "Yeah, I think he'll be better than fine." Averie looks at him sadly, "I swear you look disappointed." "Yeah, I don't know. It's weird, you know your life... I mean, this house and a kid... it's not my life. Never will be. Some stuff happened to me recently, and, uh... Anyway, a girl in my situation – you start to think, you know. I'm gonna be gone one day, and what am I leaving behind besides a car?"

Skylar frowns, "I don't know. Noah may not be connected with you, but ... he wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you. That's a lot if you ask me." She nods, "You know, just for the record... you've raised a great kid. I would've been proud to parent him. I wish my life was different y'know? I wish I could be here for him" She kisses her cheek, "Look, if, um... if you want to stick around for a while... you're welcome to stay." ""I can't. I got a lot of work to do, and it's not my life."

~Motel Room (While Averie is at Skylar's)~

This sequence follows Andrew as he talks to several different people on the phone, while systematically crossing names off a list. " _Hi. I needed to check some facts with your, uh, with your secretary about a fire that occurred on November 24, 2006 in Lawrence, Kansas. Hardecker was his name._ _Okay. Great._ _I was just trying to find out the date he died. T_ _his is police chief Phil Jones. July 13th, 2001?_ "; " _Can you check the records for a Robert Campbell?_ _July 19, 2001._ _Dead on arrival._ " ; " _What I'm after is, is, is cause of death._ _Heart condition?_ _Wasn't he a cardiac surgeon? Wouldn't he have known about that?"_ ; " _I'm looking for information on... on Mrs. Wallace's death."_ , " _Two deaths. Who was the other? (...) Ed Campbell._ _Any survivors? (..) N_ _o, that's all I needed. Thank you very much."_

Later, he sits on the bed and is talking to Jade, "They're dead. All of them. All of my mom's friends. Her doctor, her uncle – everyone who ever knew her, systematically wiped off the map one at a time. Someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble trying to cover their tracks." "Yep, Yellow-Eyed Demon." "So, what's your deal? You show up wherever I am. You know all about me. You know all about my mom." She sighs, "I already told you. I'm –" "Oh, right, right. Yeah, yeah. Just a hunter. Just some hunter who happens to know more about my own family than I do. Just tell me who you are."

"Andrew, it –" "Just... tell me who you are." she laughs, "It doesn't matter." "Just tell me who you are!" "Fine." She blinks her eyes once and they go demon-black; she blinks again and they become normal. Andrew backs up, fumbling in his bag, "Think twice before going for that holy water." "Give me one reason I should." "I'm here to help you, Andrew." "Is this some kind of joke?" "God's honest truth... or whatever." "You're a demon." She scoffs, "Don't be such a racist. I'm here because I want to help you. And I can if ... you trust me." He holds out the holy water flask, "Trust you?" "Andrew, calm down." "Start talking. All those murders... what was the demon trying to cover up?" "I don't know."

"What happened to my mother?" he tears up, she frowns "I honestly don't know. That's what I'm trying to find out. All I know is that it's about you." "What?" "Don't you get it, Andrew? It's all about you. What happened to your mom, what happened to her friends. They're trying to cover up what he did to you. And I want to help you figure it out." "Why would you want to help me?" She shrugs "I have my reasons. Not all demons are the same. Not all of us want the same thing. Me? I want to help you from time to time. That's all. And if you let me, there's something in it for you." He looks at her terrified, "What could you possibly—" "I could help you save your sister."


	3. Bad Day at Black Rock

~Prison. Phoenix, Arizona.~  
  
Alonzo is being swiped down with a metal detector, before he enters the prison visitors area. He sits down on the other side of a window in front of Luna Young and picks up the two-way phone. "It's true. A Devil's Gate was opened in Wyoming. Big. St Helen's big. There's no solid fix on how many demons got out, but it's in the hundreds. An army." "Andrew Walker was there. Wasn't he?" "Talked to a guy who knows a guy who knows Dean Singer, and yeah, it looks like the Walkers were at ground zero when the gate was popped, but Singer said they went in there to stop it."

"Mhn-mhn." she shakes her head no, "Dean's edge ain't what it used to be. Andrew could have him believing anything by now." "Listen Luna, as far as talk goes? Andrew Walker checks out. He's a hunter, that's all." "That's all?" Alonzo nods. Luna laughs, "Alonzo, I'm not even sure he's human. You think I'm crazy? I told you there was a war coming – six months ago. Take a look around. It's here. Now I'm telling you this boy is a part of it. Track him down. You'll come to see it too. Andrew Walker must die." she hangs up the phone.

  
~Highway, Night~

The Impala is traveling along a quiet, dark road. Andrew and Averie are arguing, "Because Demon, that's why. I mean the second you find out this Jade chick is a Demon you go for the holy water! You don't chat!" "No one was chatting, Averie." "Oh yeah? Then why didn't you send her ass back to Hell?" "Because - Because she said she might be able to help us out!" "How?" he stays silent. She looks at him, "No really, Andrew, how? How could she possibly help us?" "She told me she could help you, Okay?" Averie is not buying it, "Help you out of the crossroads deal.she looks at him incredulously. "What is wrong with you, huh? She's lying, you gotta know that, don't you? She knows what your weakness is – it's me. What else did she say?"

  
Andrew is silent, "Andrew?" "Nothing. Nothing, Okay?! Look I'm not an idiot Averie, I'm not talking about trusting her, I'm talking about using her. I mean we're at war, right? And we don't know jack about the enemy; we don't know where they are, we don't know what they're doing. I mean, hell, we don't know what they want. Now this Jade girl knows more than we will ever find out on our own. Now yes, it's a risk, I know that, but we need to take it." She sighs, "You're okay right, I mean you're feeling okay?" "Yes I'm fine, Why are you always asking me that?" A phone starts ringing, Andrew sighs and reaches for his own.

"It's not mine." Averie goes for hers, "Nope. Check the glove compartment, it's Dad's." "Dad's?" "Yes, I keep it charged up in case any of his old contacts call." He opens the glove compartment, finds Ethan's phone and answers it. "Hello? Yes... this is Edgar Casey... (..) No! No, no, no, don't – don't call the police, I'll handle this myself. Thanks. You know, can you just uh, can you just lock it back up for me? Great. Uhm, I- I uh, I don't have my - my book in front of me," he gestures to Averie for a pen, "Do you- do you have the address so I can... Sure, Okay. Go ahead. Right, thanks a lot." he ends the call. "Dad ever tell you he kept a container at a storage place?" "What?" "Outside of Buffalo." "No way." "Yeah. And someone just broke into it."  
  
~RV, Morning~

Alonzo and fellow hunter Cole are cleaning and checking weapons inside the RV. "So you got no hard evidence on this Walker guy. You're just working off Luna's instincts?" "You ever hunt with Luna?" "No. I heard she's good." "Good?" Alonzo laughs, "She's the best, saved my ass more times than I can count. So if she says Andrew Walker's dangerous, I believe her." Cole nods, "He's gonna be covering his tracks. Won't be easy to find." "Last I got puts him in Nebraska three weeks back." "Not exactly a fresh lead." "He ain't invisible, Cole. Some Hunter out there knows something. So we start calling out contacts. All we need is one break." Alonzo says, as he gets up from the table and looks over at Cole, who has taken some kind of plastic 3D Jesus out of an overhead cupboard and is fiddling with it. There's a black velvet Jesus, in a frame, hanging opposite. "Don't play with my Jesus."

~Storage Facility. Buffalo, New York.~

"Man..." Averie says as they enter the elevator "What?" Andrew asks, looking over. "Just Dad. You know him and his secrets. Spend all this time with the guy and it's like we barely even know the man." "Well, we're about to learn something." They exit the elevator and find the storage container, Averie unlocks the padlock and opens the sliding door, both siblings with flashlights at the ready. On the dusty floor of the container is a symbol drawn in red, along with several bloody footprints. Andrew sighs, "No demons allowed." "Blood. Check this out." she says, holding up a tripwire which is attached to a shotgun hidden in a large animal skull.

  
He sighs, "Whoever broke in here got tagged." "Dear old Dad. I got two sets of boot treads here, looks like it was a two-man job. And our friend with the buckshot in him looks like he kept walking." "So what's the deal? Dad would do work here or something?" she shrugs, "Living the high life, as usual." They venture further inside, Averie aims her flashlight at the skull and shakes her head, laughing. Andrew looks over a desk while Averie picks up a trophy from a shelf, scraping the dust off, "1995." he looks over ad smiles, "No way! That's my Division Championship soccer trophy. I can't believe he kept this." She nods, "Yeah... It was probably about the closest you ever came to being a boy." She puts it down and wanders over to another find, "Oh, wow! It's my first sawed-off. I made it myself. Sixth grade." she laughs and pumps the shotgun. 

He moves further into the container and opens a door to a back room. The chain on the door has been cut, they enter and pass their flashlights over the scene. "Holy crap. Look at this, he had land mines... Which they didn't take. Or the guns. I guess they knew what they were after, huh?" he sees boxes inscribed with symbols on a far shelf, "Hey Av, check this out. See these symbols? That's binding magic. These are curse boxes." "Curse boxes? Th – they're supposed to keep the evil mojo in, right, kinda like the Pandora deal?" "Yeah. Yeah, they're built to contain the power of the cursed object." "Well Dad's journal did mention a whole bunch of stuff, you know? Dangerous hexed items ... He never did say where they ended up." "Yeah. Well this must be his toxic waste dump." He notices a rectangular shape in the dust and runs his finger along the dust, "One box is missing... Great." she shrugs, "Well maybe they didn't open it.

~Dixie and Robin's Apartment~

Dixie is sitting on the couch, her left shoulder bleeding from a gunshot wound. The missing curse box is on a coffee table, "Do you see what's happening here? I am literally! bleeding! to death!" she says, Robin looks at her, "Uh, I'm gonna open it." "Robin!" "Look what if this is really worth something? What, we should just hand it over to her? Hey, we took all the risk. Hell, Dixie. You got shot. And all for a lousy few hundred bucks. Now we could make more, selling whatever it is ourselves." Robin breaks open the lock on the box with a knife and lifts the lid, Dixie gets up from the couch to see what's inside. "Huh?" "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?!" she picks up the object in the box.

"It's a rabbit's foot- It's a rabbit's foot, Robin! I'm gonna die for a damn rabbit's foot." their argument is interrupted by banging on the front door. Dixie slams the rabbit's foot down on the table while Robin answers the door. "Oh, hey Foster." "Hey, listen, not to be a drag or nothing but it's six o'clock in the morning!" he nods, "Right." "Can't you keep it down?" "No we... Just got a situation here is all, sorry." Foster looks past him and sees Dixie, "What the hell happened to you?" "Shotgun happened to me." He walks over to her before turning back to Robin. "Hey Robin? Under my sink there's a medical kit. And get some water boiling." he leaves as Foster checks Dixie's wound, "I used to be an Army Medic you know, in 'Nam? So I guess this is your lucky day." 

-

Dixie and Robin are playing Poker, "Four Kings." she says, he groans "Unbelievable." "You see that?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Deal 'em up again." The Walkers break into the apartment, armed, and sneak inside. "Royal Flush. Robin, that's the second Royal Flush in eight hands." Dixie says happily, "Yeah, this is a lot of fun." "I can't lose. I mean really, I - I can't lose!" She grabs the rabbit's foot, "Maybe this thing really works? You know what I'm saying? Ah – I tell you something there's no way in Hell we are handing it over to that stuck-up bitch now, not after all we've been through. Uh uh. Let's go, huh? Let's get out of here, let's go have some fun."Andrew and Averie burst into the room, guns drawn, "Freeze, Freeze! Nobody Move!" Averie yells. "Don't Move!" Andrew yells

Robin looks over at them "What is this?" Averie sighs, "All right, give us the box. And please tell me that you didn't–" Andrew motions to the empty box "Oh they did." she slams her into the wall,, "You opened it?!" "Are you guys cops?" "Huh?" "Are you guys cops?!" She grabs Dixie's wrist "What was in the box?" Dixie glances over at the coffee table where the rabbit's foot sits, Averie follows her gaze. "Oh, was that is, huh? It was wasn't it? What is that thing?" Dixie uses her distraction to knock the gun from her hand. It falls to the floor, causing it to fire. The bullet ricochets off a radiator and hits Andrew's gun, causing him to drop it. Andrew and Robin both go for the gun. Robin pushes him into Averie, she falls back on the coffee table, hitting her head on the corner and launching the rabbit's foot into the air.

"Sorry!" he yells, at her as Robin lunges at him, sending them both to the floor, then starts punching him in the face. Dixie goes for Averie's gun, she picks it up and aims for Andrew, she hits Averie, who has just gotten up, square under the chin, knocking her down again. Robin is now trying to strangle Andrew, he tries fighting him off before desperately reaching for the rabbit's foot, which is almost out of reach. He just manages to grab it, then knocks Robin's hands away from his throat and kicks him back into a corner. "Av! I got it!" Dixie moves forward and cocks Averie's gun in his face, "No you don't." Robin gets his hands on Andrew's gun while Dixie pulls the trigger on Andrew. 

  
The gun jams, she panics and tries to clear the chamber, while Averie gets up and tries to stop her. She is surprised by Averie and stumbles back, tripping over a rug, falling back over the couch knocking herself out. The Walkers look at each other, confused, Robin gets up and tries to point the gun at Andrew as his back is turned. "Andrew, behind!" as Robin moves, the books on the bookshelves behind him suddenly fall off and onto his head, knocking him out cold. The gun flies out of his hand and Andrew catches it, Averie looks astounded. "That was a lucky break!" she says, then looks at him "Is that a rabbit's foot?!" he holds it up, "I think it is." "Huh."

~Restaurant.~

Averie walks over to the Impala with a paper bag in his hands. She gets in and Andrew is inside. Averie takes something out of the bag. "I'm not finding anything on it in Dad's journal." he says, she holds up several scratch cards in front of him. "Av, come on." "What?! Hey, that was my gun he was aiming at your head, and my gun don't jam. So that was a lucky break. Not to mention them taking themselves out, also a lucky break. Here, scratch one. C'mon Andrew, scratch and win!" she says as she hands over a coin and a card. He scratches it, "It's gotta be cursed somehow. Otherwise Dad wouldn't have locked it up." he hands the card back, she looks down at it "$1200... You just won $1200! I don't know, man, it doesn't seem that cursed to me!" she hands him another card expectantly.

~Dixie and Robin's apartment~

They are still laid out on the floor, Dixie opens her eyes and gets up, groaning. "Robin. Robin, get up." she kicks an empty beer bottle as she walks over. It rolls into the kitchen, "Hey, Robin, get up. Hey!" she nudges him with her foot and walks into the kitchen. Robin lays, still very unresponsive. Dixie steps over the beer bottle and heads to the sink, removing two plates, a colander and a large BBQ carving fork and placing them in the drainer. She turns on the tap and splashes water on his face and dries off with a dish cloth. "Hey, Robin. Robin!" she goes to walk back out of the kitchen, her foot catching on the beer bottle in the middle of the floor. She trips and falls backwards, landing on the fork she placed in the drainer. Robin opens his eyes and gets up, hearing choking. He walks into the kitchen and sees Dixie impaled on the fork, running from the back of her neck out through her mouth. She's gurgling and, presumably dying, he screams.

~Outside Bigger-son's Restaurant~

Averie lays out 6 scratch cards on the hood of the Impala, calculating their winnings. "Oh, man!" she yells, laughing. Andrew is on the phone with Dean, "Now look Dean, we didn't know-" " _You touched it? Damn it, Andrew!_ " "Well Dad never told us about this thing. I mean you knew about his storage place at Black Rock?" " _His lockup? Yeah, I knew. Hell I built those curse boxes for him. Listen, you have got a serious problem._ " Andrew looks down and notices something shining under a newspaper on the ground. It's a gold watch, Dean continues yelling at him, "That rabbit's foot ain't no dime store notion." he picks up the watch, turns and shows it to Averie. She stares at it, "Awesome!" " _It's real Hoodoo, Old World stuff. Made by a Baton Rouge conjure woman about a hundred years ago._ "

Andrew sighs, "It's a hell of a luck charm." " _It's not a luck charm, it's a curse! She made it to kill people, Andrew! See, you touch it, you own it. You own it, sure, you get a run of good luck to beat the Devil._ _But, you lose it, that luck turns. It turns so bad that you're dead inside a week._ " "Well, so I won't lose it, Dean." " _Everybody loses it!_ " "Well, then, how do we break the curse?" He hears Dean sign, " _I don't know if you can_." he places the rabbit's foot in his jacket pocket. " _Lemme look through my library and make some calls. Just sit tigh_ t." _Dean ends the call, he sits in his house working on the Colt._ Averie looks over at Andrew, "Dude! We're up fifteen grand!" he gives a half-smile, looking worried.

They walk into the restaurant, Averie sighs "Don't worry, Dean'll find a way to break it. Until then I say we hit Vegas, pull a little Rain Man. You can be Rain Man." "Look, we just lay low until he calls back, Okay?" He turns to the seater, "Hi, uh, table for two please." "Congratulations!" the woman yells. An alarm goes off, Averie smiles and looks at Andrew's panicked look, "It's exciting, I know." The woman smiles, "You are the one millionth guest of the Biggerson's Restaurant family!" staff workers start singing and taking photographs. Balloons and streamers fall from the ceiling. Andrew looks embarrassed while Averie looks ecstatic, "See, this is fun."

~Alonzo's RV~

Alonzo sits on the phone, "Right, you hear anything, give me a call. Well that clears my book. The word's out. Now we wait." Cole nods, "Now we eat." "Good idea. What do you like? I got canned everything." "No, no, man, not eating in the RV. Look, I know a good place. Wide menu, good service, homey atmosphere. Garlic knots! The menu's on their website." Alonzo looks at him, not convinced.

~Biggerson's Restaurant~

Andrew is on his laptop, Averie is eating a bowl of ice cream. He looks up "Dean's right. This lore goes way back. Pure Hoodoo. You can't just cut one off any rabbit. Has to be in a cemetery, under a full moon, on a Friday the thirteenth." she looks up from the icecream "I think from now on, we only go to places with Biggerson's." she is suddenly struck with brain freeze, he laughs as a waitress approaches their table with more coffee, "Can I freshen you up?" "Uh, yeah sure. Thanks." The waitress pours Andrew more coffee but, smiles at him, spilling some, she grabs a paper towel immediately "Oh!" "Oh, I-" "Let me clean up here." "No, no don't worry it's okay, It's okay- I got it, uh..." she smiles at him, "It's no trouble, really. Okay." Sorry about that." "It's all right." The waitress appears to be flirting with him. Andrew gives Averie a look, the waitress finishes cleaning up and walks away, looking over her shoulder as she goes, smiles. 

  
Andrew and Averie both lean in and watch her retreating, "Dude. If you were ever gonna get lucky..." "Shut up." he says smirking and goes to pick up his coffee, knocks the cup over and manages to spill it all over the table and himself. He jumps out of his seat, "Oh! Oh Geez, uh..." he turns and a waiter with a full tray crashes straight into him, Averie looks at the scene shocked. "Sorry!" Andrew says to the waiter, he turns back to Averie, she stares at him "How was that good?" he searches his jacket pocket and comes up empty. The rabbit's foot is gone, she sighs "Son of a bitch."

-Outside-

The waitress who was flirting with Andrew is sauntering out in slow motion. She looks at the rabbit's foot in satisfaction, then pulls off her short black bob wig and tosses it in a dumpster, smiling, and letting her long ginger hair flow out. In the front, the Walkers rush out of the restaurant. "Come on!" Averie yells, Andrew falls flat on his face. She slows down and turns around to face him, "Wow! You suck." she reaches down and picks him up off the ground. "Ow..." "So what, now your luck turns bad?" His jeans are torn at both knees, which are bloody, "I guess." she sighs, "I wonder how bad." 

  
~Alonzo's RV~

Cole passes his laptop to Alonzo who looks over the screen, "Looks good. I like that when they drop the whole onion in the fryer." Cole takes the laptop back, nodding, "Nearest location..." he searches and then pauses, looking surprised. He passes the laptop back to Alonzo, "You seeing that?!" On the screen is a photograph of Andrew and Averie from their winning visit to the local Biggerson's. Alonzo grins, "Yes I am." he looks up to the sky as though he's been given a sign.

  
~Dixie and Robin's apartment~

Robin is holding a photograph of himself and Dixie from when they were younger, with his other hand, he holds up a bottle of Tequila and sadly toasts the memory of her. He's listening to music at the same time, _Vaya con dios_... "Adios, compadre." he pours a lug of Tequila on the floor, then takes a large swig. The door to the apartment opens, Averie walks in but Andrew hangs back. "Oh, God. What do you want?" he says, she sighs "Heard about your friend. That's bad luck." "Piss off." "We know someone hired you to steal the rabbit's foot. A woman." "Oh yeah? How do you know that?" "Because she just stole it back from us." Robin laughs, Andrew walks in "Listen man, this is seri-" he steps too far forward and trips on a wire laying on the floor mid-sentence, pulling a CD player off a shelf and sending it and himself crashing to the ground, taking out a lamp as he goes down.  
  
Averie just closes her eyes and doesn't look, calmly talking "Andy, you Okay?" "Yeah, I'm good!" he pulls himself up and Robin smirks. She starts walking towards Robin, "I want you to tell us her name." "Fuck you." "It wasn't a freak accident that killed your partner." "What?" "It was the rabbit's foot." He scoffs, "You're crazy, kid." she glares "You know I'm not. You saw what happened, what it did. All the flukes, all the luck. When you lose the foot that luck goes sour. That's what killed your friend. And my brother here is next. And who knows how many more innocent people after that. Now if you don't help us stop this thing, that puts those deaths on your head." he looks at her worried, she bites her tounge "Now I can read people ... and I get it. You're a thief, and a scumbag, that's fine. But you're not a killer. Are you?" He shakes his head, "No."   
  
~Biggerson's Restaurant, Night~

  
Alonzo leans against his RV, which is festooned with bumper stickers: "HOW WOULD JESUS DRIVE?" "DON'T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE. —GOD" and "Bethlehem or Bust". Cole walks over from the restaurant, "No one saw which way they went. And, their meal was free so there's no credit card trail." "Don't worry, we'll find 'em." "What makes you so sure?" "'Cause there's a higher power at work here. I know it now."

~Apartment Block~  
  
Andrew and Averie exit the apartment block, Averie's phone starts ringing. As she answers, she steps over a large wad of pink bubblegum on the ground, "Hello?" Andrew follows and there is a squishing sound. He gets a deeply frustrated look on his face as he lifts his shoe off of the bubblegum. " _Averie, great news. Wasn't easy but I found a heavyweight cleansing ritual that should do the trick._ " "Dean, that's uh, great, 'cept Andrew, uh..." she looks over at him and grimaces when he lifts his shoe. She sighs, ".. .Andrew lost the foot." " _He what!?_ " "De-Dean, listen. This, uh, this hot chick stole it from him. I'm serious. In her mid 20's, and she was sharp you know, good enough at the con to play us.." 

Andrew is trying to scrape the bubblegum off his shoe using a broken storm drain grating, glancing at Averie, "And she only gave the guy she hired a name, probably an alias or something. Uh, Luigi or something?" he groans "Lugosi." "Uh, Lugosi?" " _Lugosi? Lugos - Aw crap, it's probably Brianna._ " Andrew moves his foot too hard, dislodging his shoe. It drops into the drain with a splash, he tries to retrieve it. "Brianna Lugosi? That's cute." " _Brianna Camile's her real name._ _Crossed paths with her once or twice._ " "Well she knew about the rabbit's foot. Is she a Hunter?" Andrew looks at Averie, "Av..Help" he whines quietly.

She doesn't hear him and continues talking with Dean, " _Pretty friggin' far from a Hunter, but she knows her way around the territory. She's been out of the country. Last_ _I heard she was in the Middle East someplace._ " "Ah, I guess she's back." " _Which means seriously bad luck for you._ " "Great..." " _But, if it is Brianna...At least I might know some folks who know where to find he_ r." "Thanks, Dean. Again." " _Just ... look out for your brother, ya idjit_." She looks at the phone after he hangs up, then looks back at Andrew, who looks thoroughly dejected. "What?" "I lost my shoe." she looks down at his sock-clad foot and sighs, annoyed. She rolls her eyes and turns away, he hangs his head.

~Motel, half an hour later~  
  
The Impala pulls into the lot and stops just inside the entrance, Averie is on the phone as Andrew looks out the window, "All right, Dean, thanks. Hey, we owe ya. Another one." she turns to Andrew. "All right, Dean's got it on pretty good authority that this Brianna chick ... lives in Queens. So it'll take me about two hours to get there." "So what are we doing here?" "You, my stupid brother, are staying here 'cause I don't want your bad luck getting us killed." She drives the Impala into the main lot, passing Alonzo's RV on the way.

Averie unlocks the door and leads Andrew inside, turning on a light as she goes in. "What am I even supposed to do, Av?" "Nothing! Nothing. Come here. I don't want you doing anything. I want you to sit right here," she pulls a chair into the middle of the room "and don't move, Okay? Don't turn on the light, don't turn off the light. Don't even scratch your nose." He sits in the chair and watches her leave, locking the door behind herself. He wrinkles his nose a few times before risking a scratch.

  
~Brianna's Apartment. Early Morning. Queens, New York~  
  
The apartment is richly decorated, containing varied valuable artifacts. Brianna is on the phone, she walks down stairs and into the kitchen and talks with an affected British accent. "Because you shook on one point five. Well maybe I should just take it somewhere else?" She pets a Seal Point Siamese cat that is sitting on the counter. "Don't threaten me, Luke. Despite your reputation you don't scare me." The security monitors register Averie walking across the yard, but she's not watching. "Well I'm glad you see it that way. I'll see you at the airstrip in an hour." she ends the call, she makes her way to the kitchen as the cat follows.

Brianna picks up the rabbit's foot with kitchen tongs and the Siamese cat hisses, she starts walking again, but pauses in front of the security monitors as Averie moves off-screen; when she glances at the monitors, Averie's no longer on screen. She puts the rabbit's foot down, opens the wine cooler and extracts a gun from it before moving through the living room toward the front door. The door is ajar as she approaches, she notices a beeping noise. The alarm system panel is flashing ERROR. A bright yellow Post-It stuck to the panel reads 'TURN AROUND'. Averie appears behind Brianna, her gun drawn. She turns and draws her gun, "You left without your tip."Brianna smirks as she steps closer to Averie.

~Motel Room~

Andrew rocks back and forth on the chair, bored. Suddenly, the AC unit in the wall in front of him starts making a clunking, grinding sound before smoke starts to pour out. He groans "Oh come on, I- I didn't- I wasn't..." he gets up and cautiously approaches the unit. The unit catches on fire, he grabs the comforter off one of the beds and attempts to put out the fire with it. When he thinks he's got it, he gets up, only to find his jacket sleeve is now on fire. Andrew panics and uses the curtain to put it out. The curtain rips and falls away, revealing Alonzo and Cole staring in through the window. He falls back, knocking himself out on the floor, Alonzo smiles.

  
~Brianna's Apartment~

"You're gonna give it back." Averie says, moving to the right as she keeps her gun aimed at Brianna's head. She laughs at her, following her movements with her own gun, "Sweetie. No I'm not." "Yeah, we'll see. Brianna, right?" "That's right. Averie." "You know the thing's cursed, don't you?" "You'd be surprised what some people would pay for something like that." she scoffs, "Really?" :There's a lucrative market out there. A lot of money to be made..You Hunters with all those amulets and talismans you use to stop those big bad monsters. Any one of them could put your children's children through college." "So you know the truth, about what's really going on out there, and this is what you decide to do with it? You become a thief?" "I procure unique items for a select clientele." "Yeah. A thief." "No, a great thief." she says, cocking the gun.

  
~Motel Room~

Cole has restrained Andrew to a chair with Duct Tape, he backs away as Andrew opens his eyes, "Oh, he's awake!" Alonzo walks over to them "Back with us, eh?" "We didn't even have to touch you. You just went all spastic, and knocked yourself out? It was like watching Jerry Lewis try to stack chairs!" Andrew looks between them, "Who are you, What do you wa-" Alonzo snaps his fingers in Andrew's face, he looks at him confused. "I used to think your friend Luna sent me." "Lu..Luna? Oh come on!" "Yeah, because she asked me to track you down, and put a bullet in your brain." He sighs, "Great. That sounds like her." Alonzo smiles at him, "But, as it turns out ... I'm on a mission from God." he strikes Andrew across the face.

  
~Brianna's Apartment~  
  
Averie sighs, "Look Brianna, my brother, he ... touched the foot. And when you took it from him, his luck went from-" "I know how it works." "So then you know he's gonna die unless we can destroy it." She looks at her sincerely, "Oh... You can have the foot," Averie looks shocked "For one point five million." "Nice. Yeah, I'll just call my banker. How'd you even find the damn thing? Stuck in the back of some storage place, middle of nowhere." Brianna looks over her shoulder. Averie follows her gaze to a Ouija Board and planchette on the mantle, "I just asked a few of the ghosts of the people that it killed. They were very attuned into its location." "So you're only out for yourself, huh? It's all about number one?"

Brianna chuckles, "Being a Hunter is so much more noble? A bunch of obsessed, revenge-driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved?" "Well, aren't you a glass half-full?" "We're all going to Hell, Averie. Might as well enjoy the ride." "I actually agree with you there. Anyhoo, this has been charming but uh, look at the time. Oh and ... this?" Averie reveals the rabbit's foot in her hand. Brianna looks at her, pissed, she smiles "Looks like you're not the only one with sticky fingers. If it's any consolation I think you're a truly awful person." She fires at Averie and misses completely. She fires again, the bullet ricocheting around breaking several objects and hitting the Ouija Board. Averie chuckles and holds out the rabbit's foot to taunt Brianna and makes a run for the door. She fires again at Averie's retreating form, the bullet again ricocheting around and destroying more objects. The Siamese cat runs off and Brianna ducks, Averie runs out the door, "Seeya!"

~Motel Room~

Cole throws a glass of Holy Water in Andrew's face, he glances at the mirror and sees his cheek is bruised and his nose is bloody. He shakes the water off while Alonzo watches, sitting on one of the motel beds, "You were a part of that demon plan to open the gate weren't you?" "We did everything we could to stop it." "Lie lie lie! You were in on it. You know what their next move is too, don't you?" "No, I don't, okay? You're wrong about all of this." "Where are they gonna hit us next?" Andrew sighs and stays silent. Alonzo moves quickly, strikes him across the face again "Where?! Luna told me about you, Andrew. About your powers. You're some kinda weirdo psychotic freak?" "No, not any more. I – no powers, no visions, nothing, it just—" "Liar!"

  
He punches him hard, blood drips from his nose, "Now no more lies. There's an army of demons out there pushing at a world already on the brink. We're on deck for the endgame here, right? So maybe, just maybe you can understand why we can't take chances." he draws his gun and points it at Andrew, "Whoa, okay, okay, no, do— hold on a minute!" Cole tries to intervine "Hey, Alonzo just—" "No, you saw what happened, Cole. Ask yourself, why are we here? Because you saw a picture on the web? Because we chose this motel instead of another? Luck like that doesn't just happen." Andrew looks at him, "Look, I can explain all of that if-" "Shut up!" he yells at Andrew before looking back at Cole, "It's God. He led us here for one reason. To do His work. This ... is destiny."  
  
The door opens, Averie walks in "Whoa..." Alonzo aims the gun point blank at Andrew forehead. Andrew squeezes his eyes shut, the sound of another gun being cocked is heard in the room. "Nope. No destiny. Just a rabbit's foot." Averie says, pointing her gun at Alonzo, "Put the gun down, girl, or you're gonna be scraping brain off the wall." "Oh, this thing?" she holds up her gun, "Yeah, that thing." "Okay. But you see, there's something about me that you don't know." She puts her gun down, looking smug, and picks up a pen sitting next to it. "Yeah? What would that be?" "It's my lucky day." she tosses the pen toward Alonzo. It lodges itself in the barrel of his gun, Andrew watches, she smiles "Oh my God, did you see that shot!?"  
  
Cole lunges at her and aims a punch, she easily side-steps and Cole runs straight into the wall, falling backwards and hitting the floor. Alonzo stares at the pen in the barrel for a few moments before trying to dislodge it. "I'm amazing." she says, picking up the TV remote from the table and throws it hard at Alonzo, who is just about to aim for her. It hits him right between the eyes, knocking him out cold. She looks at Andrew, smiling "I'm Batman." he chuckles, "Yeah. You're Batman."

~Cemetery. Night~

Andrew is crouching, and sprinkles something onto the embers of a small fire. Averie is checking over more scratch cards, he turns to her "All right. Bone ash, cayenne pepper, that should do it." "One second..." "Av, you—" "Hey, back off, Jinx. I'm bringing home the bacon." he sighs, shaking his head. She smirks and stashes the cards in her jacket, which is slung over a gravestone, "All right, say goodbye "wascawy wabbit"." They hear the sound of gun is heard cocking, she turns around. Brianna is standing there, "I think you'll find that belongs to me. Or, you know, whatever...Put the foot down, honey." "No. You're not going to shoot anybody. See I happen to be able to read people. Okay, you're a thief, fine, but you're not—"  
She ignores Averie, aims at Andrew and fires. He goes down, holding his shoulder, "Son of a-" Averie grabs her own gun, Brianna stays aimed at Andrew "Back off, tiger. Back off. You make one more move and I'll pull the trigger." He gets up, still clutching his shoulder, she chuckles "You've got the luck, Averie. You, I can't hit. But your brother? Him I can't miss." she glares at her "What the hell is wrong with you?! You don't just go around shooting people like that!" "Relax. It's a shoulder hit, I can aim. Besides, who here hasn't shot a few people? Put the rabbit's foot on the ground now." "All right! All right. Take it easy." She goes to drop the rabbit's foot, but instead throws it at Brianna, "Think fast." she catches the foot, Averie smiles in satisfaction. "Damn!" "Now, what do you say we destroy that ugly-ass piece of dead thing?" Brianna sighs in annoyance.  
  
-  
  
Brianna drops the rabbit's foot in the embers, "Thanks very much. I'm out one and a half million, and on the bad side of a very powerful, fairly insane buyer." Averie scoffs "Wow. I really don't feel bad about that. Andrew?" he shakes his head, "Nope. Not even a little." She glares at them, "Hmm. Maybe next time I'll hang you out to dry." she goes and leans on the gravestone where Averie's jacket is, "Oh don't go away angry, just go away." Brianna smiles, "Have a nice night, you two." she walks away, the rabbit's foot burns in the fire. A few minutes later, Averie and Andrew start walking to the Impala, "You good?" "I'll live." "I guess we're back to normal now, huh? No good luck, no bad luck. Oh! I forgot we're up $46,000. I almost forgot about the ... scratch tickets." she searches her jacket and comes up empty. Brianna's car roars in the distance, they look at each other, then watch her drive away. "Son of a bitch!" Averie yells, Andrew bites his tongue, looking away from her.

  
~Prison. Phoenix, Arizona. Day~  
  
Alonzo is talking to Luna, his nose is taped up, "You were right about everything. Andrew Walker is more than a monster. He's the adversary." "And what was it that convinced you?" "God led me to him, and His will is clear." She nods, "Okaaaaay... That's great. Glad to have you on board. But, uh, first things first. We gotta get me the hell out of here. 'Cause like I told you before, Andrew must die." she hangs up the two-way phone, leaving.


	4. Sin City

~Catholic Church. Wooster, Ohio. Night~

A nun is putting Bibles and hymnals in the pews. Candles flicker, then there is a sound like wings fluttering. She gets nervous for a moment, then turns around and is startled to see someone appears behind her, Father Gil hands her a Bible. "One more. That's all for tonight, sister. Come on. Let me walk you to your car." A voice is heard from the balcony, "Father?" he looks up and sees a man standing up there, "Jack?" "Father, God's not with us. Not anymore." "Jack, of course He is. Why would you say that? What's wrong?" Jack shakes his head, starting to cry, "He can't help us. And if He can... He won't." he pulls out a gun, which he cocks and places under his chin. Father Gil holds his hand up "Jack, wait!" he shoots himself. The nun screams as Jack's body slumps forward over the balcony wall.

~Dean's House. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Morning~

Dean sits at a desk, working on the Colt, while Averie melts metal into bullets. He looks at a magnifying glass at the Colt, and looks at a diagram of parts. Andrew walks into the room, knocking on the wall "Hey." she looks up "Hey, what's up?" "Might've found some omens in Ohio. Dry lightning, barometric-pressure drop." "Well, that's _thrilling_." He sits across from her, "Plus, some guy blows his head off in a church and another goes postal in a hobby shop before the cops take him out. Might be demonic omens." She shrugs, "Or it could just be a suicide and a psycho scrapbooker."  
  
He sighs, "Yeah, but it's our best lead since Lincoln." "Where in Ohio?" "Wooster. It's a half-dead factory town in the rust belt." she groans "There's got to be a demon or two in South Beach." Dean shakes his head chuckling, Andrew smiles before walking over to Dean "Sorry, Hef. Maybe next time. How's it going, Dean?" "Slow." Averie looks over, "Eh, I tell you, it's a little sad seeing the Colt like that." "Well, the only thing it's good for now is figuring out what makes it tick." he looks at him, half smiling "So what makes it tick?" Dean looks up – not amused. Andrew holds his hands up in amusement, Averie stands up from her area at the table "So, if we want to go check out these omens in Ohio..." she looks over at Andrew, ".. you think you can have that thing ready by this afternoon?" he chuckles.

Dean stares at her incredulously, "Well, it won't kill demons by then, but I can promise you it'll kill _you_." she smiles, "All right, come on, we're wasting the daylight." Andrew waves as he walks away with Averie "See you, Dean." He stops them as they start to leave. "You two run into anything — anything — you call me." they nod "Of course, don't worry."

~Caltholic Church. Wooster, Ohio.~

Andrew and Averie are in suits, talking to Father Gil, "There's not much left for the insurance company. It was a suicide - I saw it myself." Averie nods, "Well,this shouldn't take long, then." "That's where Jack did it. It's the first time I'd seen him in weeks. He used to come every Sunday." Andrew frowns while glancing at Averie, "When did he stop?" "Probably about ... two months ago? Right around the time everything else started to change." "Change how?" Father Gil looks at him sadly, "Oh, let's just say this used to be a town ... you could be proud of. People ... cared about each other. Jack sang in the choir, and then one day, he just ... wasn't Jack anymore. It was like he was ..."  
  
"Possessed?" Andrew says, he nods, "You could say that. Gambled away his money, cheated on his wife, destroyed his business. Yes, like a switch had flipped." "Father, did you know the man who killed those folks in the hobby shop?" "Sure, Tony Perkins." "Tony Perkins?" "Good man." he says sadly. Averie frowns, "Would you say that his personality suddenly changed one day, too?" Father Gil looks away, "I never thought about it that way, but... yes. about the same time as Andy — about two months ago." "Well, thank you, Father. Appreciate your time." Andrew and Averie start to leave, he leans close to her "Two months ago, we open up the devil's gate, all of a sudden this town turns into Margaritaville? It's no coincidence."

~Motel~

Andrew and Averie unlock the door to their room, Averie looks up at the mirrors on the ceiling, the door across the hall opens. She turns around as Andrew pushes past her to get into the room, "Elena. I don't believe it." "Hey, Averie... Walker, right?" "Yeah." A tall scantily dressed girl appears from Richie's room, Elena turns "This is my sister, uh, Cheryl." "Hey." Cheryl says, Averie nods "Hi, Cheryl." Elena hands Cheryl some money as she leaves, "Well, you know... stepsister." "Come on in. This is my brother, Andrew." Elena gives him a soft smile "Hey. How you doing?"He sighs, "Not too bad. How do you two know each other?" Averie looks at him "You were in school." Elena looks confused for a moment "It was that succubus, in Canarsie right?" "Yeah, yeah." "Oh, man. You should have seen the rack on this broad. Freakin' tragedy when I had to gank her." "Whoa, whoa. Wait. Who killed her? If I remember, your ass was toast until I showed up." 

She chuckles, "Oh, I forgot what a comedian this chick was." "El, Elena, know what? I told you then and I'll tell you again — you're not cut out for this job. You're gonna get yourself killed." Elena's phone rings and she answers, "Talk to me." she walks away as she continues on the phone "Yeah? No, it's not a good time, babe. Later." Averie looks at her as she puts her phone away, "So you find anything in this town, anyway?" "Ah, no. I got nothing..Oh, wait a minute. You mean as in demons and whatnot?" "Yeah..." "No, I got nothing." "Typical. What about your _sister_ back there?" "Oh, honestly? She definitely had the devil in her, but she wasn't no demon, you know what I'm saying?"

Andrew shakes his head, Averie gives her a look, Elena sighs "Right. Seriously. Church guy, hobby-shop guy — they were lunch meat by the time I got there. Hey maybe they were possessed, but I can't prove it." He nods, "Yeah, that's where we are, too. You know, let's just say that demons are possessing people in this town. You know, raising hell—" "Yeah, but why would a demon blow his brains out?" "Well, for fun? You know he wrecks one body, moves to another. You know, like taking a stolen car for a joyride." "Anybody else left in the town that fits the profile — you know, nice guy turned douche, still breathing?" "There's Trotter."  
  
Andrew looks at Averie, "Who's that?" "Well, he used to be head of the Rotary Club. And then people say he turned bastard all of a sudden? Brought in the gambling, the hookers. ... Ah, he practically owns this whole town." Know where we could find him?" Elena shrugs, "He'll probably be at his bar in a few hours."  
  
~In Town. Later~

Andrew and Averie pull up in the Impala. The town is buzzing, it looks like Mardi Gras — people wandering around with cocktails, lots of action. She turns to him, "I thought you said this was some boarded-up factory town." he shrugs, "It is. At least, it's supposed to be." "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do some research." She looks excited to follow a bunch of people, from a car, a woman in a miniskirt watches her, then gestures for her to come over. Averie approaches the car and looks at her, smiling; Andrew comes back to fetch Averie and smiles embarrassed at the woman as he pulls his sister away.

~Trotter's Bar~

The Walkers thread their way through a crowded bar. People are drinking and dancing and seem to be having a good time. Averie is at ease, moving through the crowd like she's trying to pick out the best action. Andrew is getting bumped into and seems to feel a little awkward and overstimulated. Elena brushes past a woman and walks over to them, she's wearing a somewhat shiny orange short-sleeved shirt halfway unbuttoned to reveal a white t-shirt underneath. "Oh, El. Look at you." she says, "Hey." the two women shake hands. "Bringing satin back." "Oh, you like this? Try Thai silk — Canal Street. You'd have to pay $300 for threads like these, easy. Cost to me — _fuggedaboutit_." 

Andrew chuckles, "How much is "forget about it"?" "Ah, forget about it. That's Trotter over there. He sits there all night. Can't touch him." "So,what do we do now?" Averie smiles, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna do a little investigating with that bartender." "Easy. Me and her, we got a little ... somethin'-somethin' lined up for later." she scoffs, "Yeah, right." Elena smirks, "Stings, don't it? All right. I got to hit the head, release the hostages. Be back in a few." Andrew laughs at Elena's general cheesiness. Averie looks at the bartender "No way she gets a girl like that. I mean, look at her. You could fit that ass on a nickel."

A familiar voice comes from behind them, "You think so?" Averie turns around and sees Father Gil, "Oh. Sorry, Padre." "Knew you two would find your way here. They all do." Andrew looks at him confused, "No offense, but what are you doing here, Father?" "Like it or not, you go where your flock is." The bartender, Casey, pours him a drink, "Plus, the clergy drinks for free." "True, and a certain bartender owes me a confession." "Not in this lifetime, Father." "I better see your butt on Sunday." he looks at Averie as he leaves the seat, "Nickel or no nickel." Casey turns to them, "What can I get you?" Averie smiles, "What's your specialty?" "I make a mean hurricane." "I guess we'll see about that." Andrew looks at Averie, laughing "You drink hurricanes?" "I do now."

Over near the pool table, a man, Reggie, enters. "Hi, Rufus." he says, no emotion or tone, "Reggie. Everything okay with you?" "I don't know. I'm just not feeling myself today." He tries grabbing Rufus, "Hey, what are you doing?!" Andrew looks over, noticing that Reggie has a gun, he hits Averie's leg and gesturing toward Reggie. He raises his gun and shoots Rufus point-blank in the forehead. The crowd erupts in chaos, Trotter and his henchman stand up, Reggie aims the gun at his own head. Averie tackles him to the ground, Andrew surreptitiously splashes holy water on him. Reggie seems really surprised and outraged by being splashed with water, but doesn't sizzle. "What are you doing?! He slept with my wife. That bastard slept with my wife!" Andrew looks away from him, "Somebody call 911!" he exchanges a look with Trotter.

A few minutes later, police cuff Reggie and lead him away. "Too many cops here. I say we roll." Andrew whisper to Averie, "Just be cool. Poor bastard. Only thing possessing him was a sixer of Pabst." "So, what's the deal, then? People in this town getting possessed or not?" "I don't know. Maybe it is just what it is — town full of scumbags." he sighs, "Yeah. Maybe." a police officer walks over, "You ready for your mug shots?" Andrew and Averie look at each other nervous and the cop hastens to reassure them. "The photographer's gonna be here in a few, and ... take your picture for the local paper. "Be an honor, Officer. What a thrill.." "Yep, time to go." They start walking, Averie stops "Wait a second. Wait a second." "What?" "Where's Elena?"

~Casey's Home~

Casey and Elena park at a fairly expensive looking house. "So, how's a bartender afford a place like this?" "My parents left it to me. I don't come out here much — mostly when I want to be alone." She leads Elena into a rather Gothic basement, "Wow. This is, uh, ... charming? You sure you wouldn't be more comfortable in a bedroom or my motel room? I mean, not for nothing, but, you know, I got oils." "But I have better things." "Yeah, no. That trumps oils." Elena watches as she lights candles, "You don't get, uh, scared down here all by yourself?" "Of course not. Not when I've got a hunter to protect me." She turns, and smiles briefly before closing her eyes, opening them to reveal fully black, demonic eyes. Elena's smile fades, Casey blows out the candle she's holding and draws a blade as she pulls one from her boot. She stabs her and quickly twists her neck 180 degrees. 

~Trotter's Bar~

Averie sits at a table, a burger in front of her. She's hanging up a cell phone and looking at it speculatively as if she was just trying to reach someone. "Thanks." Andrew says to the new bartender, he returns to table with beers, "You do realize there's red meat within striking distance, right?" "How many times i got to tell Elena, she's gonna get herself in trouble?" "Av, you're assuming she's missing. I mean, maybe she just bailed." "She's a moron. I mean, she's a sweet moron, but she's not a coward. She wouldn't just bail. I got to go find her." He sighs, "All right. Meanwhile I think I'm gonna trail this Trotter guy." "Yeah?" she asks, taking a sip of her beer, "Yeah. I don't know. Something about the way he looked at me last night. Maybe there is something going on here."

~Dean's House. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Morning~

Dean is shooting at a target with the restored Colt, making adjustments after he fires. Suddenly, Jade appears in from of the target. "Cute piece." he stares at her, aiming the Colt at her, "Who are you?" "It won't stop a demon, if that's what you think." "How the hell would you know?" "Oh, I don't know." She closes her eyes and when she opens them they are black, revealing she is a demon. "Call it an educated guess?" "Well, ain't I lucky, then? Found a subject for a test fire." Jade chuckles, "Luck had nothing to do with it. But, hey, by all means. Take your best shot." she poses in front of the target, arms outstretched. Dean hesitates, she sighs in exasperation, "Are you gonna stand there like a pantywaist, or are you gonna shoot..." he shoots her in the chest. She looks down at the wound in the center of her chest, "Ouch! That smarts a little." "What do you want?" "Peace on earth. A new shirt. Now ... do you want me to help you out with that gun or not? Hmm?"

~Outside Trotter's Office. Wooster, Ohio.~

Andrew is in a corridor outside Trotter's office, where Trotter is talking his henchmen. SAM's phone rings, startling him. He answers, talking in a hushed voice, "Av." "Andy." "Yeah. Hey. I can't talk right now." "You okay?" he sighs, hearing the concern in her voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just, uh ... meet me at the bar in 20 minutes, okay?" he hangs up, hearing someone moving inside the office. A henchman comes out of the office and looks around for a moment, but Andrew is nowhere to be seen.

~Trotter's Bar~

A woman sits next to Averie, "I got to tell you — many of the women in this place? They want to eat you up." she half smiles, "Well, hey. Anybody could have tackled that guy ... and wrestled the gun away ... prevented mass murder." "Well, here's what I'm gonna do. Normally, I charge $400 a night." she leans in and whispers, "Why don't we call it an even deuce and get the hell out of here?" Averie looks at her, "What do I look like?" she scoffs, "Cheapskate." "Did I just see you strike out with Mary? How's that work?" Casey asks, "Well, I just told her I had a thing for the bartender. It was pretty easy." "Who says the bartender's available?" "That's a good question. You got something going with some girl, you know, about yea tall, wears a satian ...?" "Who?" "My mistake. What do you say you and me grab a drink after your shift?" "I say why wait ... when we can go right now?" Averie smiles.

~Outside Trotter's Office~

Trotter and his henchman walk out of the office. Andrew watches for a second from the hallway, then heads into the office. He starts rifling through the desk, looking at calendar, keys ... Suddenly the henchman is there, taking a swing at him. Andrew punches him hard, repeatedly, when he feels a gun to his neck, "What are you doing here?" "I think maybe you know." "Yeah? Well, I think I'm calling the cops!" "Cops?" he asks, confused. Trotter scoffs, "Breaking and entering, assault — you're in a peck of trouble, my friend." "Uh, wh-, uh ... I think I could probably explain it—" Andrew suddenly twists around, grabs the gun from Trotter, and points it at both men.

"All right, back up! Get back." Trotter looks at him, "Money's in the safe! Take it and go." "I don't want your money. I just got to be sure." he splashes both men with holy water. They flinch and sputter from the sudden spritz of cold water, and look outraged, but nothing else happens. "What kind of psycho are you?" he smiles nervously, "Oh, god. Uh ... I'm sorry. Heh ... I ... think this was just a minor misunderstanding? Yeah, okay, ummm .... How 'bout I just ... i just leave, 'cause ..." he takes the bullets out of the gun, "I'll take these. Okay, I'll, uh, I'll leave this for, uh ... you, uh... Have a nice day?" Andrew places the gun down before turning and walking rapidly out of the office, grimacing in embarrassment, and leaving Trotter and his henchman staring in bewilderment.

~Basement of Casey's Parent's House.~

Averie walks around, "Looks like the maid's day off." Casey seems surprised at something, she walks over "Everything okay?" Casey kisses her, "Make yourself comfortable." She continues looking around, "Oh, I forgot to mention ... Elena was a friend of mine. When I realized I could track the GPS in her cellphone, I swung by earlier. Give her a proper burial. It's better than rotting in some skank's basement." Casey launches herself at Averie but is stopped by an invisible barrier. "Oops." she kneels down, and peels back the corner of the rug, which is covering a devil's trap she has drawn. "Isn't that a buzz kill? Sorry, sister, but you're going back to where you came from." Casey laughs, "I don't think so." 

Averie takes out a hidden book and begins to read in Latin, "Spiritus immunde, undolara. Pasonitote ..." Casey closes her eyes as if meditating, and suddenly a breeze is blowing into Averie's face, and spinning the chandelier above her, she recollects her thoughts, and begins reading again. "Spiritus immunde, undo—" the pages from the book are pulled off by the mystical breeze. As she looks down at the book all the pages fly off and the book as well. Casey opens her eyes and smiles. Underneath the book, now on the floor, a giant crack forms. Suddenly the bricks around the door cave in, Averie looks shocked and turns to look at Casey, who looks pleased. "What are you smiling at, bitch? You're still trapped." "So are you... bitch."

-

Averie lights candles and examines the rockfall, "Lose something?" Casey asks, she laughs "All you demons have such smart mouths." "It's a gift." "Yeah, well. Let's see if you're smiling when I send your ass back to Hell." "Without your little exorcism book? Hey, go ahead." Casey smiles, "Spiritus immunde ... un, guh ..." "Having a little trouble there, sport?" She clears her throat and tries again, "Spiritus immunde, undolare, Pasonitote." she takes a breath, tries and fails to remember the next phrase. "Nice try, but I think ... you just ordered a pizza. Guess you should have paid more attention in Latin class." "Hey, I don't know what you're smiling about. You're not going anywhere." Casey laughs, "And, apparently, neither are you." "Yeah, but I got somebody coming for me, and, uh... he _did_ pay attention in class.

"Oh, right — Andrew. Everyone says he's the brains of the outfit." Averie looks at her confused, "Everyone?" "Sure. You Walker kids are famous. Not Lohan famous, but, you know..." "Well, that's ... flattering. I'll be sure to let Andrew know when he gets here." She smiles, "If he shows up first." Averie is still confused, "What, you thought I was flying solo? You shouldn't underestimate, it might be the death of you. You can give me hard eyes all you want, but the fact remains, we just have to wait and see who shows up first —The cavalry ... or the Indians."

~Trotter's Bar~

The woman who tried to pick up Averie earlier sits at the bar, smiling at Andrew. "You look kind of tense." Andrew looks around to see if she's talking to him, she smirks "You know, I know a surefire way to relax." "Maybe later." he turns to the bartender, "Excuse me. Hi." "What can I get for you?" "Um, you remember the girl I was with last night? We sat right here. Umm...." "... The big hero who jumped on Reggie." "Yeah, yeah. The — the big hero. Right. Um, have you seen her around at all today?" "Maybe. Depends." "D-depends on what?" he raises an eyebrow, Andrew catches on. "Does everyone around here have their hand out?" he sighs, and pulls out some money and hands it to the bartender. "He left with Casey about an hour ago." "Any idea where they went?" "Her place... for _Bible_ _study_." "All right, you got an address?" "What's wrong with you? You think I'm gonna give you a co-worker's address, just so you can go over there and get your freaky peeping-tom rocks off?" without hesitation Andrew hands more money over. "Corner of Piermont and Clinton. Have fun." he sighs. The woman licks a cherry lasciviously, he walks around her, avoiding her gaze.

~Casey's House~

Averie moves a wine cask over to an barred opening, that daylight is apparently in through. She holds out his cell phone to try to get a signal, Casey sighs, "Why don't you relax?" "Why don't you kiss my ass?" "Why, Averie, you're a poet. I had no idea. Look, we won't have any effect on the outcome of this. We might as well be civil." She turns her her, "Civil, huh? Killing Elena — that was, that was civil? The girl was harmless." "That knife she pulled on me? Didn't look so harmless." "Ah, a knife wouldn't hurt you." "No, but it would damage this body. And Casey has such a fine body, I wouldn't want to see it ripped." "A demon with a heart. Wow. Well, you know, there's a bunch of dead people in town that might disagree with you." "Hey, I didn't pull any triggers."

She glares at her, "Yeah? You did something." "You want to know what I did — what I really did? I had lunch." "Lunch?" "Me and Trotter. He had a cheeseburger, I had a salad, and I just pointed out the money that could be made with a few businesses that cater to harmless vice. So Trotter built it, and, man, did they come. Supposedly God-fearing folk, waist-deep in booze, sex, gambling. I barely lifted a finger." "That's it?" Casey scoffs, "You don't get it. All you got to do is nudge humans in the right direction. Some whiskey here, a hooker there, and they'll walk right into hell with big, fat smiles on their faces. Your kind is corrupt. Weak. Our will's stronger. That's why we'll win." Averie looks scared, "And that's how it ends?" "No. That's how it begins."

-

The front door swings open and Andrew looks at it but decides to go through it anyway, "Averie?" he checks out the place. He steps on little pink piggy slippers that make a disturbing sound. Looking at a picture of Casey with a guy, and a cross necklace hanging on top of it, he sees yellow powder behind it, he picks some of the powder up. "Sulfur.." 

-

"So, demons take over. I thought the meek shall inherit the earth." Averie says, Casey chuckles, "Oh, according to your Bible. It's only a book, sweetie." "Not everyone would agree." Because it's God's book? Do you believe in God, Averie? I'd be surprised if you did." "I don't know. I'd like to have faith in something." "Well, I don't see how you and your God, have done such a bang-up job. War, genocide — it's only getting worse. I mean, this past century, you people racked up a body count that amazed even us. It's our turn now, and we're gonna do it right this time." Averie hears a noise, and looks up towards the grate. Casey chuckles, "Don't be hopeful. You're not delivered. It's only the wind."

~Trotter's Bar~

Andrew sits at the bar, dialing Dean's number "Dean, It's Andrew. We got a big problem. I found some sulfur, and now I can't find Dean. Call me as soon as you get this." He looks at the bartender, "Hey, excuse me. Um, they weren't there." "I guess you got to catch your jollies another night. Here. Why don't you have a drink ... and relax?" "Yeah, I don't _want_ to relax! They are missing. What is it with the people in this town?" "Suit yourself — princess." The bartender takes the shot he had poured for him, Andrew sees Father Gil sitting at a booth in the bar and approaches him. "Father." "Yes?" "Um... can I, can I talk to you for a sec?" 

~Casey's House~

"You know, you're piling it pretty high there, sweetheart. I'm not sure I'm buying." Averie says, "Why would I lie?" Casey asks, sounding hurt. "Demons lie." "Some do. Some are true believers." "Believers in what?" "What, you think humans have an exclusive on a higher power?" She looks at her, surprised, "You have a god?" "Sure. His name's Lucifer." "You mean the Devil?" "Your word, not ours. Lucifer actually means "light bringer." Look it up. Once he was the most beautiful of all God's angels, But God demanded that he bow down before Man, and when he refused, God banished him. Tell me, Averie. How do you like bowing before lesser creatures?" "Lucifer's really real?" she asks, "Well, no one's actually seen him, but they say that he made us into what we are, and they say that he'll return." "Oh, yeah? And, uh, you believe that?"

Casey shrugs, "I've got faith." "Mmm." "So, you see? Is my kind really all that different than yours?" She shrugs, "Well, except that, uh, demons are evil." "...and humans are such a lovable bunch? Look at Dick Cheney." "He one of yours?" "Not yet. Let's just say he's got a parking spot reserved for him downstairs." Averie laughs before looking at her seriously, "Hey, speaking of downstairs ... what's it like down there?" "What, Hell?" "Yeah." That's right. You booked a one-way ticket with that deal. You're not gonna like it, Av. And, um, judging from the trouble you've caused, I don't think you'll be getting the presidential suite. But, it's a pit of despair. Why do you think we want to come here?" 

~Trotter's Bar~

"So, the, the bartender the other night, Casey. You know her pretty well?" Andrew asks, Father Gil nods, "Since she was in pigtails." "Well, um, she and my sister, they, uh..." he pauses, thinking of how to phrase it, "They... left tonight. Together." "Ah. Well ... not that I approve, but they are consenting adults." "Right..." He looks at him confused, "I, I'm sorry. You said "sister." I thought the two of you were insurance investigators?" "Right, right. Well, well we are. Um, it's like, it's like a family business, you know?" "Ah." "Anyways, um, s-so, I went to Casey's apartment, and they weren't there. I, I, I just have this feeling that they ... that they might be in trouble." "What kind of trouble?" "Just ... trouble. Look, please, Father, I, I need your help. Is there anything you could tell me about Casey — anyplace she'd go, maybe ...?

Father Gil nods, "Yes, there is a place. Let me get my jacket." "No, wait, wait, wait, Father. I can do this by myself." he looks at him, "Son, if Casey's really in trouble, then there's nothing to talk about." He stands and puts on his coat, as he turns away from Andrew, his eyes turn demon-black eyes. "Shall we go?"

~Casey's home~

"Kind of funny, don't you think? You and me sitting here like a couple of regular folk." Casey says smiling, "Yeah, it's hilarious, you know, in that ... apocalyptic sort of way." "You're all right, Averie. The others don't describe you that way. But, you know, you're — you're likable." "A demon likes me," she chuckles, "Sorry, I don't know how to respond to that." "You could say thanks...That deal you made to save Andrew — a lot of others would mock you for it, think it was weak or stupid. I don't." She sighs, "It's been kind of liberating, actually. Y'know, what's the point in worrying about a future, when you don't have one?" Casey looks at her sadly, "Still, a year left. You're not scared?" "Nah." "Not even a little?" "Of course not." 

~Dark Road~

"So, insurance investigating. You enjoy the work?" Father Gil asks, Andrew nods "Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I ... like being able to help people." "Ever think about doing anything else?" "Like what?" "Mmm, anything. You seem like a pretty smart kid. Somehow I see you out in front of the pack. You could do some great things." "I don't know. I like doing what I'm doing, I guess." "Well, it's your life. Does, um ... Averie?" "Yeah, what about Averie?" "Does she find trouble often?" He sighs, "Yeah. Yeah, she finds her fair share." Father Gil smiles at him, "Well, it's a good thing she has you — her brother's keeper. Or since she's a woman, her own sister's keeper."

~Casey's House~

Casey sits, stretching languorously on the floor. She smirks when Averie looks at her, "Why, Averie, if I didn't know better, I'd say that was lust in your eyes.. Well, it would be one way to spend the time ... but I don't think you'd respect me in the morning." she scoffs, "That's okay. I mean, hey, I barely respect you now." She turns away from her, then sighs, "Can I ask you a question?" "I'm an open book." "So, the gate opened. The demon army was let out. What now, huh? I'm not seeing a big, honking plan here." "Honestly, there was a plan. _Azazel_ was a tyrant, but ... he held us all together." She turns back around quickly, "Azazel?" "What, you think his friends just called him "yellow eyes"? He had a name. After you did him in, it all fell apart." "Eh. Sorry about that. So, what? No chain of command?"

"There was. It was Andrew. He was supposed to be the grand pooh-bah and lead the big army, but ... he hasn't exactly stepped up to the plate, has he?" Averie sighs softly, "Thank God for that." "Again with _God_. You think this is a good thing? Now you've got chaos, a war without a front, hundreds of demons all jockeying for power, all fighting for the crown. Most of them gunning for your brother. For the record, I was ready to follow Andrew. But, I guess you're willing to lose a few more people before you go down below and spend time with dear ol' Dad. Who knows, maybe it'll be just like the old days."

Father Gil's station wagon pulls up in front of the house, they get out of the car and start walking towards the house. "Averie?!" Andrew yells, he pounds on the front door, "Averie!?" He sighs, turning to Father Gil, "Check that way." He walks off in the other direction around the house, hearing a faint yelling sound, he moves closer to it. "Andrew!" "Av?" "Andy, down here! The basement caved in!" He kneels down to look in the grate, "Av. Hey, hold on, okay? We're coming." "Who's we?" "I'm here with the Father."

Averie nods, she glances back to Casey, whose lips part — with excitement? It's hard for Averie read her exactly. She turns back to Andrew, "Andy, be careful." he stands up to see Father Gil going black-eyed. A shot is fired just past his head, destroying a small statute. He whips around to see Dean, and uses his powers to fling him aside. He then throws Andrew into the window of the Impala. Father Gil leaves quickly, blows off the door of Casey's home before entering it. Andrew, groaning, rolls off the hood of the car and rushes to where Dean lies on the ground. "Dean, you all right?" "Yeah." "How did you know where we—" he hands him the rebuilt Colt. "Go!" Jade appears suddenly, walking out of the trees, "You heard the man. Go!"

Loud forceful bangs shove the stones aside, Averie looks nervously towards Casey who seems anticipated. Father Gil smashes in through the cave-in, she rushes at him, he points a finger and she goes flying backwards and hits her head. Casey looks at him as he approaches her, "Stop!" she points to the devil's trap. He kneels, and slams his fist down, cracking the floor and breaking the devil's trap. She steps out of the circle, and they embrace and kiss passionately. Averie struggles to his feet, and gestures to the two of them, looking revolted. "You two?" Father Gil smiles, starting to move towards her, "For centuries. We've been to hell and back, literally."

Casey looks at him, "Leave her be." he grabs Averie by the throat and lifts her up. "Don't kill her. Let's just go. Please." Averie grabs his hand and tries prying his fingers off, but his grip is strong. Andrew rushes into the basement and shoots him with the Colt. Lightning emits from and circles Father Gil, who twitches and drops to the ground giving one final twitch. He points it at Casey, Averie tries to move in front of her "Andrew, wait!" He shoots her, and lighting emits from her circling her just like it did with Father Gil. The bodies of Casey and Father Gil, no longer possessed, lie dead on the devil's trap. Averie stares at her brother as he slowly lowers the Colt, and the bodies bleed out. "What the fuck was that?" she mutters to herself, looking at Andrew's cold dark eyes.

~Busy Street~

Not much appears changed since the demons were killed, Dean and Averie are walking outside on a sidewalk. "Well, what do you think, Dean? About what we did here, you think it made a difference?" he shrugs, "Two less demons to worry about. That's not nothing." "Yeah, but Trotter's still alive." "Humans ain't our job." "Yeah, but you think anything's really gonna change? I mean maybe these people do just want to really destroy themselves. Maybe it is ... a losing battle." He looks at her alarmed, "Is that you or the demon girl talking?" "Ohhhh, it's me. Demon is dead, and so is that hot girl it was possessing." "Well, had to be done. Andrew was saving your life." "Yeah, but you didn't see it, De. It was cold."

She stops and turns for a face-to-face with him, "Dean." he gives her a worried look, "Yeah?" "Back in Wyoming, uh, there was this moment. Yellow Eyes said something to me." "What'd he say?" "That maybe when ... Andrew came back from, well, wherever, ... that maybe he came back different." "Different how?" "I don't know. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. You think ... think something's wrong with my brother?" "No. Demons lie. I'm sure he's okay." She sighs, "Yeah. I hope so.."

~Motel Room~

Andrew stands over his bed, packing, Jade leans against the table. "Leaving so soon? We haven't even had a chance to celebrate." "Yeah, well you can celebrate without me." she smiles, "You're not gonna get all pouty on me now, are you? Come on! You killed two demons today." "Yeah, well, maybe you don't care, but I killed two humans, too." "Andrew, you know what happens when demons piggyback humans. They leave them rode hard and put up wet. Chances are those two would have died a slow, sticky death. You probably did them a favor." "Did them a favor? You're a cold bitch, you know that?" "Yeah, and this _cold_ _bitch_ has saved your ass a couple of times now. Some respect might be nice. Especially if you want me to help you out with Averie and her little problem."

He throws his knife into the bag, turning to face her "You know what? You keep dangling that, but last I checked, she's still going to Hell." "Everything takes its own time. But there's a quid pro quo here. We're in a war." " _Right_. But for some reason, you're fighting on our team. Now, tell me, why is that again?" "Go fuck yourself, that's why." he chuckles, "Oh I see." She glares at him, "I don't have to justify my actions to you. If you don't want my help, fine. Then give me the gun and I'll pass it on to someone who will use it." he raises the Colt and cocks it, pointing it at her "Maybe I'll just use it on you." "Go ahead, if that makes you happy. It's not gonna do much for Averie, though. She'll go down there, have knives and hooks in her arms and legs as daily torture from the best is at work, crying and pleading for help. Just to repeat everything the next day..So, what's it gonna be, hmm?"

He lowers the Colt, "Ah hah. That's my boy. This won't be easy, Andrew. You're gonna have to do things that go against that gentle nature of yours. There'll be collateral damage... But, it has to be done." "Well, I don't have to like it." "No. You wouldn't be Andrew if you did. On the bright side, I'll be there with you. That little fallen angel on your shoulder." he looks at her, sighing.


	5. Bedtime Stories

~Construction Site. Maple Springs, New York. Night~

A cloud covered moon shines light onto a billboard advertising the building of new homes. "Once Upon A Time .... " in big letters, with a subtitle: "All homes were built this well" Below are descriptions of "3 & 4 bedroom luxury homes, 2 & 3 bedroom townhomes, etc. Available this Spring" Three brothers, Emmett, Kyle, and Dmitri, are standing near a building that is clearly under-construction. "Yeah, me too." Dmitri says, Kyle sighs "Come on guys, let's get it together. You're on brick." "Yeah, I know, but I —" "You're the brick guy and I'm the wood guy. That's the way it is." "All I asked- I just wanted someone to pick the color of bricks!" "Okay, then you know that it's gotta be you. It's your job, not mine!"

A growling sound is heard, Emmett looks over to where the sound was "Hey, what was that?" "I don't know, a dog maybe?" Dmitri says. Emmett sighs, "That's a hell of a dog." Kyle rolls his eyes "Okay, we got a crew coming in the morning. Look at this wood, huh?! Look at it, it's crap! Where'd you order it from?" Dmitri looks at him confused, "Same place as always." "Shoulda used the cinder block, like I wanted." Emmett mutters looking at the hand-made bricks in the back of the trunk, "You know what? Here we go again. You are not in charge, Em, neither of us are." Kyle scoffs, "Hey, you're a bunch of girls. Look, it comes down to this, okay? One gust of wind and the whole place is gonna blow over!

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Emmett says, "Did you hear that?" Kyle looks at Dmitri, "Hear what?" Both Emmett and Dmitri walk over to a wood podium, where the noise came from. Kyle hangs back and moves in the direction of the noise. He peers around a digger, there's nothing there. He shakes his head, literally snorting like a pig. "Kyle, c'mon let's go." Emmett calls back, "'Kay man I'll go warm up the truck. They start walking back to the truck as Kyle is suddenly dragged behind a stack of piping. Emmett screams and pulls over a floodlight, they hear growling as the light falls. Blood sprays up on the driver's door of the truck, Dmitri grabs onto Emmett's arm as he goes behind a wall of brick.

Emmett yanks his arm out of his brother's and runs back for Kyle, something jumps out and attacks him. Blood sprays across plans at the podium, Dmitri continues to hide. No sounds, he moves around the concrete blocks and sees Emmett lying on the ground, a blood pool from his mouth. "Em.." he hears the growling begin again, and footsteps, and turns his head; something attacks him.

~Highway~

A bullfrog sits on the highway, the Impala races along. It hits a puddle spraying water as the frog hops out of the way, just in time. Inside the Impala Averie and Andrew are arguing, "I don't understand, Averie. Why not?!" "Because I said so." "We got the Colt now!" She looks over at him, "Andrew..." "We can summon the Crossroads Demon..." They shout over each other's words, getting louder each time. "We're not summoning anything!" "...pull the gun on her, and force her to let you out of the deal!" "We don't even know if that'll work!" "Well then we'll just shoot her! If she dies then the deal goes away!" "We don't know if that'll work either, Andrew! All you're pitching me right now is a bunch of "ifs" and "maybes" and that's not good enough, because if we screw with this deal, you die!"

He hits the door, "And if we don't screw with it, you die!" "Okay, enough! I am not going to have this conversation." "Why, because you said so?" "Yes, because I said so!" "Well you're not Dad!" They silently stare at each other, "No, but I am the oldest. And I'm doing what's best. And you're going to let this go, you understand me?" Andrew stares at her angrily, he turns away and looks out the window. He looks angry but isn't saying anything. She sighs, "Tell me about the psychotic killer. C'mon, tell me about the psychotic killer." he grabs a paper from his lap and reads monotonously. "Psychotic killer... rips victims apart with brute-like ferocity." "Okay, any mention of his razor sharp teeth or his four-inch claws? Animal eyes?" "No. But the lunar cycle's right. Look, if it is a werewolf we don't have long, the moon's full this Friday and that's the last time it changes for a month." "Two days, no sweat." she mutters.

~Dmitri's Hospital Room. Day~

Averie holds a fake badge with her photo, her and Andrew close their badges and return them to their suit pockets. Dmitri lies in a hospital bed with bandages and scrapes, "I'm Detective Plant, this is Detective Page, we're with the County Sheriff's Department." Averie says, "Yeah, uh, I've been expecting you." "You have?" "All morning. You are the sketch artist, right?" Andrew looks at her, "...uh." "Absolutely." "Yeah..." "That is exactly who my partner is. The things he can do with a pen...." she chuckles and he glares at her, "But listen before we get started on that, I wanted to ask you, uh, how'd you get away?" "I– I have no idea. I was hiding, and he found me. He was coming right for me and then he just ... stopped. Staring at me with this blank look. And after that he just took off running." Dmitri says, looking at them sadly.

Andrew nods, "'Kay. Um, I'm going to need as much physical detail as you can remember." he pulls a small notebook and pen from his pocket and starts sketching. "Uh yeah. Uh, he's about six feet tall..." "Six feet..." "Dark hair..." Averie peeks at his sketch. "Uhm, what-what about his eyes, what color eyes did he have?" "Maybe....blue?" "Blue?" "It was dark." Averie sighs, "Did they seem...animal-ish?" "Excuse me?" Dmitri asks. "What about his teeth? You notice anything ... strange about 'em?" "No, they were just teeth." "How about his fingernails?" "Look he- he's just a- a normal guy, with normal eyes a-a-a-and teeth and fingernails!" Andrew gives him a sympathetic look, "Sir, it's okay if-" "No. No. Those were my brothers. This guy, he- he killed my brothers. How would you feel?"

"Can't imagine anything worse." Averie glances at Andrew, "I know this isn't easy but if you could remember any more details..." "Th-there was one more thing he had a- a tattoo on his arm of a cartoon character. Umm... it's, uh, it's the guy who's chasing the Roadrunner—" "Wile E. Coyote?" she asks, "Yeah, that's it." A doctor walks into the room, "Dmitri?" "Dr. Garrison." "How you holding up?" "Okay, considering.." Averie looks at her, "You're Dmitri's Doctor?" "Yes." she holds up her badge, "Can I just ask you a few questions?" "Sure." They leave the room leaving Andrew with Dmitri. He points at the notebook, "Don't I get to see it?" "Uhh.." he laughs nervously "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uhm, yeah, it's a, you know... work in progress." he hands his notebook over to Dmitri. On it is a badly drawn portrait of a man.

-

A bullfrog sits at the forefront. Andrew and Averie walk, while she looks at his drawing. She laughs, "Boy, this is a piece of, uh, art. Really." he snatches back the notebook from her, "Yeah, like you could've done any better. So what did the Doc have to say about Dmitri's brothers?" "Not much, they were D.O.A. at the scene. She did give me the lowdown on the coroner's report." "Lemme guess, their hearts were missing." She sighs, "Nope. But chunks of their kidneys, lungs and intestines." "That's just gross." "Yeah, also definitely not werewolf behavior." "So, what? Demon? Attacker could've been possessed." "Why would a Demon stop halfway through an attack?" He shrugs, "I think that, uh.. Could've... Yeah, I got nothing." "Me neither."

~Woods~

Julie and Ken are hiking through the woods. Ken searches his backpack, "Man I am starving. Hey, where are all the Power Bars?" she looks up at him, "You ate them all. And we're lost." "We're not lost! The path is... right here." they walk on. At a break in the trees they suddenly spy a quaint house. Smoke rises from the chimney, he elbows her "Look, there." "Oh, _civilization_." "Yeah." "Thank God." they walk toward the house along a wide path. The front door opens and a cheerful old lady steps out with a cane, "Are you two doing okay?" Julie smiles softly, "Hi! Actually, we're, uh, Lost." The old lady nods, "Oh it happens. The trail gets twisty and my house is the only one left up here. Um, I could point you in the right direction, but I'm afraid it'll take a while to get back."

Ken spots a pie cooling at the open window, he stares at it avidly. "You're really deep into the woods." "Nice work, Ken." she says, "Would you like to come in and rest a bit?" Ken looks at her, "Um, yeah." Julie sighs, "Thanks, but we should head back." He turns to her, "Oh come on Jules, she offered. She's a harmless old lady. What could happen?" he goes inside. She looks unconvinced but the old lady smiles sweetly and she follows. The three of them sit at the kitchen table. Ken has a piece of pie in front of him, the old lady smiles, "You sure you don't want more?" "No, thank you it's, uh, uhm..." his stomach growls. He looks uncomfortable, "I'm full." Julie taps his arm, "We should go." "Mm-hm." "We really can't thank you enough." he gets up from the table, grabs the chair and falls to the floor in pain, gasping.

"Ken?" she asks, "Ju- Julie!" he groans in pain, she stands up, then doubles over in pain as well. "Ah! Ah-Ah! What's going on?!" he looks over at her, "Julie!" The old lady blurs in Julie's vision, "Did you... drug us?" the old lady gets up from the table and takes a large carving knife from the drainer. She begins checking its sharpness with her thumb, smiling. Julie and Ken whimper in pain, he looks over "Julie, run!" She walks over to the pair, he is propped against a padded chair. "Stop. Please, you have to stop." she places a hand on his face, "Don't worry. Everything's fine. You just hold still now dear."

She slashes at him with the knife, Julie gets splattered with blood and screams. She laughs, changes grip on the knife and leisurely stabs Ken repeatedly. Julie continues screaming, "No! Stop! Stop! Please Stop! Why are you doing this?! No!" A little girl with long black hair in a white dress, red sash and red headband appears outside the window, watching, observing. The old lady continues to stab Ken, "No! No!!"

~Hospital~

There is hyper activity around a nurses' station, Andrew and Averie, in suits, approach the station. Two Sheriff's deputies exit a patient's room, the Walkers hastily alter course and focus on a set of flowers on the counter. The deputies pass by, they turn and continue down the corridor to the room where the deputies exited.

Julie lays on the bed, "Please, please." Dr. Garrison places her hand on Julie's face, "Shh. Hey, we need to observe you while the drugs still might be in your system." "I have to go. I have things to do, arrangements I need to make!" "It can wait. Now you need to rest. Stay. I'll be back in a few minutes." She walks toward the Walkers, who are standing in the doorway, "Detectives." "Dr. Garrison." "What the hell is going on here? My whole town is going insane." Andrew sighs, "We'll let you know as soon as we do." she leaves. They move into the room, "Miss Watson? Hi. We just need to ask you a few questions." they produce their badges.

Julie looks at them tearfully, "Do we have to go over this again? Now?" Andrew sighs, "We'll try to be brief. Miss Watson, can you tell us how you got away?" She looks away from them, "I didn't eat as much as Ken did, so I wasn't as out of it. And, when the old woman was... carving up Ken, I shoved her, and she fell. Cracked her head on the stove. She's dead, right? I- I killed her?" Averie frowns, "D'you have any idea why she'd do this to you?" "No! One minute she was a sweet old lady and the next she was, like, a monster." "Can you remember anything else?" "Um, yeah...Did you find a little girl there, by any chance?"

He looks at her confused, "A ... little girl? At the house?" "I thought I saw her outside the window. She- She just disappeared. Just vanished, into thin air." They look at each other, she wipes her eyes "It m-must've been the drugs." "This disappearing girl — what-what'd she look like?" Averie asks. "Does it matter?" Andrew nods, "Yes. Every detail matters." "She had this dark, dark hair and really pale skin. She was around eight. She was a beautiful child. It was... odd to see her in the middle of something so horrible."

~Old Lady's House~

"Well, there's no sulfur anywhere. How about the EMF?" Averie asks, sighing, Andrew walks over. "Yeah, it's going nuts. When I went over here by the window .... There's definitely a spirit here." "Who stood outside the crime scene and watched?" "Looks like." "What the hell do you make of that?" she asks, he looks at the house "Actually I do have a theory. Uh, sort of." "Hit me." "Well, I'm thinkin' about fairy tales." "Oh that's — that's nice. You think about fairy tales often?" He frowns "No, Av, I'm talking about the murders. A guy and a girl? Hiking through the woods, an old lady tries to eat 'em? That's Hansel and Gretel. And then we got three brothers, arguing over how to build houses, attacked by the Big Bad Wolf." "Three Little Pigs." "Yeah."

Averie nods, "Actually those guys were a little chubby. Well, wait, I thought those things ended with, uh, everybody living happily ever after?" he chuckles, "No, no. Not the originals. See the Grimm Brothers' stuff was kinda the folklore of its day, full of sex, violence, cannibalism. Now, it got sanitized over the years, turned into Disney flicks and bedtime stories." "So you think the murders are uh, what? A re-enactment? That's a little crazy." "Crazy as what? Every day of our lives?" "Touché...How's the creepy ghost girl involved?" "Uhm, Well, she must've been here for a reason. I'm willing to bet you top dollar she was at the construction site too." "We gotta do research now, don't we?" Andrew shrugs, she closes her eyes annoyed.

~Cumberland County Central Library. Six Hours Later~

Averie exits, not looking happy, Andrew turns to look at her "So?" "Checked every record they had. Found the usual amount of violent childhood deaths for a town this size." they walk across the road toward a park. "Okay?" "Wanna know how many were little girls with black hair and pale skin?" "Zero." She nods, "You wanna know how many little girls with black hair and pale skin that have gone missing? Right again. Zip. zilch, nada... Tell me you've got something good 'cause I've totally wasted the last six hours." he chuckles, "Well, you ever hear of Lillian Bailey? She was a British medium from the 1930s."

"She got a thing for fairy tales?" "Nah, trances. See she'd go into these unconscious states where, uhm, get this, her thoughts and actions were completely controlled by spirits." "A ghost puppet master?" He sighs, "Yeah." "Think that's what this kid is doing? Sending wolf boy and grandma into trances, making them go kill-crazy?" "Could be. You know, kinda like uh, uh, spirit hypnosis or somethin'." "Trances I get, but fairytale trances? That's bizarre even for us." They stop walking and look down. A bullfrog sits in their path, croaking, "Yeah, you're right. That's completely normal." the bullfrog croaks again and again.

Averie glares at the bullfrog "All right, maybe it is fairy tales. Totally messed-up fairy tales. I tell you one thing, there's no way I'm kissing a damn frog." He looks at something, "Hey. Check that out." he points to a house opposite. A pumpkin sits on the porch and a few mice run in front of it, "Yeah? It's close to Halloween." "You remember Cinderella? With the pumpkin that turns into a coach, and the mice that become horses?" She looks at him, "Dude, could you be more gay?" he looks at her, nonplussed; his jaw works speechlessly for a moment. "Don't answer that."

~Pumpkin House~

Averie picks the lock and Andrew pushes open the door; they both enter. She looks over at him, "Well who knows, maybe you'll find your fairy godmother?" he looks annoyed and she smirks. They split up to begin to search the house. They hear a noise and both draw their guns, Averie closes the front door, at another noise, she motions for him to head toward it. She follows, "Help I'm in here!" they push open the door, "Hey! Hey." A teenage girl is handcuffed to the oven, he makes his way over to her, "It's okay. We're here, we're here. We got you." he opens his lock pick kit. "You have to help me. She's a lunatic." Averie looks at her, "What happened?" "My step mom, she just freaked out, screamed at me, beat me. Chained me up."

"Where is she now?" "I don't know." Averie looks through the kitchen door and spots the little dark-haired girl peeking out, "Andrew." he looks up and sees her as well. The little girl turns away, she follows her. She walks through the house to the entryway and sees the little girl standing in the living room. The little girl walks out of sight, she walks to the living room, looks around, but the girl is gone. She pauses, then turns around, the little girl has reappeared. "Who are you? The little girl is silent, she flickers and vanishes. Averie, surprised, looks down at a red apple on the rug. She picks up the apple, frustrated.

~Street~

She sits on the hood of the Impala, playing with the apple. Andrew walks over as an ambulance drives away, "Paramedics picked up Cinderella." "That's good." he looks at the apple she is tossing up and catching, "Yeah." tosses the apple to him. "So... Little girl, shiny red apple. I'm guessing that means something to you, fairy tale boy?" "I think it's Snow White." "Snow White? Ah I saw that movie. Or the porn version anyway, 'cause there was this wicked Stepmother? Woo, she was wicked." she grins, he looks at her disgusted, "There is a wicked Stepmother. And she tries to kill Snow White with a poison apple." "But the apple doesn't actually kill the girl, right?" "No. Puts her into a deep sleep, so deep it's almost like she's dead." he tosses the apple back to her, they both get into the Impala.

~Hospital~

Andrew is talking to a nurse, "No, sorry. We don't have any comatose little girls." "You sure?" "Totally. It's mostly old guys. And, well... Callie. She's been around since before I started here." "Callie?" "Yeah, it's so sad. And poor Dr. Garrison, she just ... won't give up on her." "Is Callie one of her patients?" "No. Her daughter."

In Callie's hospital room, Dr. Garrison sits at the bedside, glasses perched on her nose, reading to her from The Complete Works and Tales of The Brothers Grimm. Callie is a young adult woman, with long, straight dark hair, lying completely motionlessly on the bed with monitoring equipment. "Ah, here we are. "'Just press the latch,' called out the Grandmother. 'I'm too weak to get up.'"."

~Supermarket Parking Lot~

A Grandmother holds two full grocery bags in her arms, crossing the lot and heading toward her car. _"The Wolf pressed the latch, and the door opened. He stepped inside, went straight to the Grandmother, and ate her up."_ The Grandmother opens the door with her remote key when a tall, dark man appears, catching a falling bag. "Oh! Thank you so much." he puts the bag on the back seat and smiles at her. She puts the other bag on the seat, he shoves her in the van and attacks her, hitting and punching wildly. His Wile E. Coyote tattoo flashes on his arm, the little girl in white watches from a distance. After another blow, the man moves into the driver's seat and drives out of the parking lot as the little girl observes.

~Callie's Hospital Room~

The Walkers make their way to Callie Garrison's room, they stop outside the doorway and watch as Dr. Garrison reads to Callie. "...and the Huntsman stepped inside, and in the bed lay the Wolf. So the Huntsman took a pair of scissors and cut open the Wolf's belly." They glance at each other as Dr. Garrison notices them. She puts down the book, gets up and walks over, "Detectives. Can I help you?" Averie gives a fake sympathetic look, "We just... heard that Callie is your daughter, and we wanted to say how very sorry we are." "Well, uh. Thank you. If you'll excuse me." she walks out of the room, "Oh, heading this way? We'll walk with you. How long's Callie been like that?"

Andrew sighs, "We don't mean to intrude. We can't possibly understand how hard it must be for you seeing her like this." "It's not easy. She's uh, been here since she was eight years old." "That's when she was poisoned?" she nods, "Yeah. Swallowed bleach. Never figured out how she got her hands on the bottle. My wife found her, uh, brought her to the ER here and I was on call." Averie looks at Andrew for a second, "You're wife was uh, was that Callie's stepmother?" she stops walking and looks at her. "Actually, yes. How'd you know that?" "Lucky guess." "Well, Julie was the only mother that uh, Callie ever knew. My wife passed away last year and, uh ... it's just my daughter and me now. She's all I've got left. Uhm, excuse me. I've gotta get back to work." "Yeah." she walks away. They share another look before heading for the opposite hall, "Well you're right. It's Snow White in spades."

He frowns, "Yep. Step-mom poisons the girl, puts her into a deep sleep. What's the motive you think?" "Could be like Mischa Barton. On "Sixth Sense" not the O.C." "What?" "Hey, you know fairy tales, I know movies. She played the pasty ghost. You know the, uh, remember the mom had that thing you know, where you keep the kid sick so you get all the attention?" "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Huh, could be." "So say all these years, Callie's been suffering silently because nobody knows the truth about what mommy dearest did?" They walk into the reception area of the hospital, "And after all this time her spirit just gets angrier and angrier, until it finally just starts lashing out." Averie nods, "Right. Meanwhile she has to listen to Dad tell her these deranged stories about a rabid wolf or a cannibalistic old lady. It's enough to drive anybody nuts."

"Okay, but how are we gonna stop her, I mean Callie's stuck here, her father's keeping her body alive." "It does make it a bit hard to burn the bones." "You think?" An EMT yells down the hall "Coming in!" The emergency doors open and they watch as EMTs bring in the Grandmother on a stretcher, a Doctor runs over "Okay, what's her status?" "Seventy-two year old female, sustained multiple lacerations and puncture wounds. BP is eighty over forty and falling. Sinus tachycardia." "Is that a bite?" "Looks like she was mauled by a mad dog or, maybe a wolf?" Averie looks at Andrew, "What was the last story Dr. Garrison was reading Callie?" "Little Red Riding Hood." A cover is thrown over the Grandmother, they look on, grimly.

They walk over to the one EMT, "Excuse me." they flash their badges, "Was she the only victim?" he shakes his head, "She was found by the side of the road, barely alive. Alone." Averie frowns, "We need to find her next of kin." he looks through the Grandmother's paperwork, "She has a granddaughter." "Do you have an address?" He hands a sheet of paper to her, "Thank you." "No problem." They walk away, "Hey, you find a way to stop Callie, all right?" Andrew looks confused, "What about you?" "I'm gonna go stop the Big Bad Wolf... Which is the weirdest thing I've ever said." walks way. SAM stares after him.

~School~

A girl walks out of the school and onto the sidewalk. She is dressed in a red hoodie, she smiles when she spots a mini-van she recognizes. She crosses the road and gets into the passenger seat, "Hey, Grandma." The man who attacked the girl's Grandmother turns in the driver's seat and growls at her, locking the doors as he does so. She gasps and tries to get out, hestarts up the car and drives off down the street.

~Hospital~

Andrew searches the corridors, looking for Dr. Garrison, when he sees her ahead. "Dr. Garrison! I need to speak with you." "Detective. What can I do for you?" "Well, uhm ... it's about Callie." She looks at him panicked, "My daughter? What about her?" You know maybe- maybe could we sit down for a minute?" "No. What about her?" "'Kay. Well um. All right, Doctor, this isn't gonna be easy. What happened to Callie was not an accident." "Excuse me?" He sighs, "I'm sorry, but it's true." "You have no idea what happened to my daughter." She turns and walks away, he follows, "There are things you don't know, Doctor, about your wife." "My wife?" "Doctor, your wife poisoned Callie."

She stops and turns back to him, "Why would you say something so horrible to me?" "Because I need your help." "You stay away from me, and from my daughter, you understand?" "This isn't... Please, uh—" Dr. Garrison walks into Callie's room, shutting the door in Andrew's face. He sighs, opens the door, walks in and closes it behind him. "I'm calling Security." she reaches for the internal phone. He clamps his hand over it to stop her, "No, listen. I don't have time to do this gently. If you don't listen to me, more people are going to get hurt, because Callie is going to hurt them." "What the hell are you talking about?!" "You're gonna think I'm crazy, but just understand me. Your daughter Callie is still here. She's a spirit." She looks over at Callie sadlym and sits at the end of her bed, turning back to him. "So you've seen her too?"

~Girl's House~

Averie breaks down the door and moves through the house, gun drawn. She crosses the doorway again and pushes the door closed, she sees the girl in the red hoodie crying in the living room; her face is smeared with blood. She moves to her and crouches down, "You okay?" "Yeah—Aaaaahhh!" The man appears and attacks Averie, knocking the gun out of her hand. She punches him, he throws her across the room against a dining table. She moves toward the man, but he throws her over the table and into a china cabinet, smashing the glass. She falls to the floor, bleeding from her head

~Callie's Hospital Room~

"I sensed her .... Callie. Her presence, her scent. I even saw her standing at the foot of my bed but I never...believed it, I thought I was dreaming, I—" he frowns, sitting next to her, "It wasn't a dream. She looks like she did when she was eight. White dress. Red ribbon in her hair. She's been trying to talk to you." "You're not a cop are you?" "No." "Then who are you?" "Someone who knows a little bit about this kind of thing." She tears up and looks away, "But what you said about my wife poisoning Callie, that's—" "Ma'am. Callie told us." "What?!" "Not in so many words, but in her own way. She told us." "My wife loved Callie. So how is – how is that possible?"

He looks over at Callie, "I don't know. But it is." "No. No I – I don't believe you." he places his hand on hers, "Look, she is killing people. She's angry. She's desperate, because nobody will listen to her. So you have to listen to her. Please, listen to your daughter."

~Girl's House~

Averie and the man continue to fight. Callie's spirit looks on, smiling slightly. Averie grabs a pair of scissors from a nearby knitting basket and swings at him, she punches him. He hits a bookshelf and collapses, Callie's spirit is suddenly distracted by Dr. Garrison's voice. " _Callie? Callie, it's Mommy._ " her spirit flickers and disappears from the room. The man pushes into Averie and throws her to the floor, they struggle for the scissors. He takes them from her and holds them against her throat, "No..No! Please, don't!"

~Callie's Hospital Room~

"It's me, Mommy. Is it true? Momma did that to you? I–I know I wasn't listening before, but I'm listening now. Mommy's here. Please honey, is – is there anyway that you can tell me?" Andrew looks away from her, "Doctor..." she looks up at Andrew, who nods toward her side. Callie's spirit stands beside the bed, looking sad and forlorn, "Is it true?" Callie's spirit nods. "Oh – I'm so sorry, baby. But listen to me. You gotta stop what you're doing, okay? You're hurting people. I know everything now. I know the truth. It's time for you to let go. It's time for me to let you go." Dr. Garrison turns back to Callie's body in the hospital bed, she caresses her face and kisses her forehead tenderly. The monitors buzz and flatline, Andrew looks down, saddened.

~Girl's House~

The man pushes the scissors into Averie's neck lightly, she struggles to push him off before rolls on top of him. She punches him and raises the scissors overhead to plunge them down into the man's chest. He looks at her terrified, "Whoa! Stop, stop! Whoa stop! Whoa! Where am I? What's going on?!" She lowers the scissors, exhausted.

~Hospital, An Hour Later~

Averie and Andrew stand with Dr. Garrison in front of the nurses station, she finishes bandaging the cut on Averie's neck, "And the girl's okay?" "Yeah." "So. It's really over." Andrew smiles softly, "All thanks to you." "Callie was the most important thing in my life. But I should've let her go a long time ago." Averie looks at her, "Thanks, Doc. See you around." "I sure hope not." She pats her on the shoulder and walks away. They watch her go, "You know what she said? Some good advice." he turns to her, "Is that what you want me to do Av? Just let you go?" She doesn't answer, but raises her eyes and looks at him for a long moment, then turns to leave. He watches her walk down the corridor alone, he looks at the ceiling, upset.

~Motel Room. Midnight~

Averie turns over in her sleep, Andrew's bed is messy and empty. He picks up a backpack from the end of the bed. He heads for the door, looks back at Averie, then walks over to her bed and kneels next to it. "I know you're gonna be pissed off at me, Av. But I have to help you.. I mean, you're my big sister.. You're all I have left. You protected me my whole life, you are in this mess because of me. Don't you think it's time _I_ protect you?" He looks at her, tears blurring his vision, "If this ends the wrong way and I mess up your deal, I'm sorry. But I can't just sit back and watch you go to Hell knowing that it's my fault. My fault because I didn't protect myself. My fault because I couldn't get you to stop yourself."

He looks at the backpack sitting next to him, he sighs, "I'm so, so, sorry Av. I hope this doesn't make things worse.. Because I can't _lose_ you before the time is up, I mean, I can't even lose you when the time is up." he stands up, putting the backpack on. She mutters something before turning over again, he makes his way back over to the door, staring at it before he silently departs.

~Crossroads~

Andrew crouches at the center of a crossroads holding open a box. He adds a photo ID to the contents, closes the box, and buries it with his hands. He dusts off his hands and stands, surveys the four routes of the crossroads. As he turns his back, a woman in a black dress with red eyes appears, it's the same demon that Averie made a deal with. "Well. Little Andy Walker. I'm touched. I mean... your sister's been to see me twice, but you? I never had the pleasure." he glares at her. "What can I do for you, Andrew?" he draws the Colt and points it at her, "You can beg for your life." "We were having such a nice conversation. Then you had to go and ruin the mood." "If I were you, I'd drop the wisecracks and start acting scared." She chuckles, "It's not my style. Plus, that's not the original Colt. Where did you get that?"

He doesn't answer, "Jade. Had to be. She is such a pain in my ass. She'll get what's coming to her... You can count on it." he tenses, "That's enough. I came here to make you an offer." "You're gonna make ME an offer? That's adorable." "You can let Averie out of her deal right now. She lives, I live. You live. Everyone goes home happy. Or..." he cocks the Colt, "You stop breathing. Permanently." She laughs, "All this tough talk. I have to tell you, it's not very convincing. I mean, come on Andrew. Do you even want to break the deal?" "What do you think?" he says, tightening his grip on the Colt as she moves closer.

"I don't know. Aren't you tired of cleaning up Averie's messes? Of dealing with that broken psyche of her? Aren't you tired of being bossed around like a snot-nosed little brother? You're stronger than Averie. You're better than her." "Watch your mouth." "Admit it. You're here, going through the motions. But the truth is ... you'll be a tiny bit relieved when she's gone." He looks at the ground, "Shut up." "No more desperate, sloppy, needy Averie. You can finally ... be free." "I said shut up!" "Huh. Doth protest too much if you ask me." "All right, I've had enough of your crap. You let Averie out of her deal right now!" he snarls, she shakes her head "Sorry sweetheart, but your sister's an adult. She made that deal of her own free will, fair and square. It's set in stone." "Every deal can be broken."

"Not this one." "Fine. Then I'll kill you. If you're gone, so's the deal." She smiles, "Guess again." he looks at her confused, "What?" "I'm just a saleswoman. I got a boss like everybody. He holds the contract, not me. He wants Averie's soul, bad. And believe me. He's not going to let it go." "You're bluffing." "Am I? Shoot me, if it'll get you off. But the deal still holds, and when Averie's time is up, she's getting dragged into the pit." "Then who's your boss? Who holds the contract?" She shrugs, "He's not as cuddly as me, I can tell you that." "Who is it?" "I can't tell you. I'm sorry Andrew. But there's no way outta this one. Not this time." Andrew looks upset and worried. Then he sighs and shoots the Crossroad Demon right between the eyes. She goes down with a groan, he watches, jaw tightening with anxiety.


	6. Red Sky at Morning

~Docks. Sea Pines, Massachusetts. Night~

An athletic young man is out for a run, running along the docks at night. He stops at a water fountain, checks his time, and takes a drink. He hears thunder and looks up, out over the water; sliding past not too far away is a ghostly old sailing ship. He removes his headphones and stares as it crosses into the harbor, then vanishes. He puts his headphones back in, still spooked, and jogs off.

-

Later, the same man is showering. A dark figure approaches and places his hand on the glass of the shower door. He doesn't notice until the figure rubs at the glass, making a squeaking noise. He pokes his head out and looks around her well-appointed bathroom, but sees nothing. He goes back into the shower; moments later a man in a dry overcoat, who is in the enclosed shower with him, grabs him from behind and begins to strangle him. He slams his head against the walls of the shower several times until he slides to the floor, dead.

~Road~

Averie is driving, Andrew in the passenger's seat. There is a tense silence in the car, which she decides to break. "So, I've been waiting since Maple Springs. You got something to tell me?" he looks at her, "Well, it's not your birthday." "No." "... Happy Purim? I don't know. I have no idea what you're talking about—" "There's a bullet missing from the Colt. You want to tell me how that happened? I know it wasn't me. So unless you were shooting at some incredibly evil cans..." "Av..." She looks at him upset, "You went after her, didn't you? The Crossroads Demon. After I told you not to." "Yeah, well..." "You could have gotten yourself killed!" "I didn't." "And you shot her." He throws his hands up, "She was a smartass!"

"So, what? Does that, does that mean I'm out of my deal?" she asks, he sighs, "Don't you think I might have mentioned that little fact? No. Someone else holds the contract." "Who?" "She wouldn't say." "Well, we should find out who. Of course, our best lead would be the Crossroads Demon. Oh, wait a minute..." He glares at her, "That's not funny." "No, it's not! It was a stupid freaking risk, and you shouldn't have done it." "I shouldn't have done it!? You're my sister, Averie. And no matter what you do, I'm gonna try and save you. And I'm sure as hell not gonna apologize for it, all right?" she stays silent, he shakes his head in annoyance.

~Shawn's Home. Day~

Andrew and Averie are dressed in suits, talking to Gertrude Case, she is holding a framed photograph of the "shower-drowning" victim, she is an elegant and well-groomed and approximately 70 year old woman. "But I don't understand. I already went over all this with the other detectives." Averie nods, "Right, yes. But, see, we're with the Sheriff's Department, not the police department – different departments." Andrew sighs, "So, Mrs. Case..." "Please. Ms. Case." "Okay. Um, Ms. Case, um... you were the one who found your nephew, correct?" "I came home, he was in the shower." "Drowned?" "So the coroner says. Now, you tell me, how can someone drown in the shower?" He looks at her,"How would you describe Shawn's behavior in the days before his death? I mean, did he seem frightened? Maybe he said something out of the ordinary, or ...?"

She looks at him, "Wait a minute. You're working with Lia, aren't you?" "Yep. Absolutely. That's Lia and us, we're like siblings." Averie says, Gertrude smiles, "Why didn't you say so? Lia has been such a comfort. But I'm sorry. I thought the case was solved." He looks back from the window, "Uh... Well, no. No, not yet." "I see." "So, anyways, we were talking about your nephew." "Well, yes. Shawn mentioned something quite strange before he died. He said he saw a boat." Averie looks confused, "A boat?" "Yes. One minute it was there, then it was gone. It just disappeared right before his eyes. You think it could be a ... ghost ship? Lia thinks it could be a ghost ship." she is addressing all her comments to Andrew, staring at him intently, he's thrown off by her intense regard "Well, um ... Could be." "Well. You let me know if there's anything else I can do for you." she traces a finger slowly along his hand; he looks uncomfortable, and Averie clears her throat, chuckling quietly.

~Docks~

Averie and Andrew walk along the docks. The water is crowded with pristine, moderately sized boats. "What a crazy old broad." he looks at her, "Why? Because she believes in ghosts?" she laughs, "Look at you, sticking up for your girlfriend. You cougar hound." "Bite me." "Hey, not if she bites you first... So, who's this Lia? We got another player in town?" "Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't change our job." "And what looked like a ghost ship, right?" "Yeah. It's not the first one sighted around here, either." "Really?" he nods, "Yeah. Every 37 years, like clockwork, reports of a vanishing three-mast clipper ship out in the bay. And every 37 years, a rash of weirdo, dry-land drownings." "So, whatever's happening is just getting started." "Yep." "What's the lore?" "Well, there are apparitions of old wrecks sighted all over the world. The S.S. Violet, the Griffin, the Flying Dutchman – almost all of them are death omens."

She gives him a confused look, "So, what happens? You see the ship and then a few hours later, you pucker up and kiss your ass goodbye?" "Basically." "What's the next step?" "I gotta I.D. the boat." "That shouldn't be too hard. I mean, how many three-mast clipper ships have wrecked off the coast?" he bites his tongue, "I checked that too, actually. Over one hundred and fifty." "Wow." "Yeah." "Crap." "Mm-hmm." They approach an empty parking space; Averie looks around, confused. "This is where we parked the car, right?" "I thought so." "Where's my car?" "Did you feed the meter?" her voice starts to rise, "Yes, I fed the meter. Andrew, where's my car? Somebody stole my car." He sighs, "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down. Ave-" "I am calmed down! Somebody stole my ca—" she begins hyperventilating, after looking around, Andrew hears Averie gasping and runs over to her. "Whoa. Av. Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy."

"The '67 Impala? Was that yours?" a woman asks from behind them, he sighs "Brianna." "I'm sorry. I had that car towed." She looks up at her, "You what?!" "Well, it was in a tow-away zone." "No, it wasn't!" "It was when I finished with it." "What the hell are you even doing here?" "A little yachting." He glares at her, "You're Lia. You're working with that old lady." "Gert's a dear old friend." "Yeah, right. What's your angle?" "There's no angle. There's a lot of lovely old women like Gert up and down the eastern seaboard. I sell them charms, perform séances so they can commune with their dead cats." Averie shakes her head, "And let me guess, it's all a con, none of it's real." "The comfort I provide them is very real." He scoffs, "How do you sleep at night?" "On silk sheets, rolling naked in money." Averie stands there visualizing, and nods slightly.

She looks at him, "Really, Andrew. I'd expect the attitude from her, but you?" "You shot me!" "I barely grazed you." he looks upset, while Averie shrugs in mute acknowledgement of Brianna's point, she chuckles "Cute. But a bit of a drama queen, yeah?" Averie looks back at Brianna, "You do know what's going on around here. This ghost-ship thing, it is real." "I'm aware. Thanks for telling Gert the case wasn't solved, by the way." "It isn't." "She didn't know that. Now the old bag's stopped payment and she's demanding some real answers. Look... just stay out of my way before you cause any more trouble. I'd get to that car if I were you... before they find the arsenal in the trunk. Ciao." She turns and leaves, Averie glares at her, "Can I shoot her?" "Not in public..."

~House. Night~

A woman in her thirties is washing her face at the bathroom sink. A dark figure passes behind her, and she turns. "Hello?" she turns back to finish washing her face. When she turns around again the bathtub is nearly filled with murky water. Confused, she kneels down beside the tub and fiddles with the drain. Suddenly a hand shoots out of the water, grabs her by the neck and strangles her. Veins pop on her forehead and her eyes roll back in her head.

A few hours later, Brianna, impersonating a reporter, is interviewing a distraught woman who is the victim's sister. "No. The police said that she drowned, but ... I don't u-understand how..." "I am so sorry for your loss, Miss. Warren. Now, if you could just tell me one more time about the ship your sister saw." Averie and Andrew approach, wearing suits and flashing badges, Averie sighs, "Ma'am, I think this lady's been through quite enough. You should go." "But I just have a few more questions." "No, you don't." She looks back at Miss Warren, "Thank you for your time."

"Sorry you had to deal with that. They're like ROACHES" her voice raises so that Brianna, who is walking away, can hear; she turns and looks back at her. Andrew leads Miss Warren away, "So, we heard you say your sister saw a ship." "Yeah, that's right." "Did she tell you what it looked like?" "It was, uh... like the old Yankee clippers. A smuggling vessel. The rakish topsail, a barkentine rigging. Angel figurehead on the bow." "That's a lot of detail for a ship your sister saw..." "My sister and I were night diving. I saw the ship, too." On the other side of the parking lot, Brianna is talking to the real uniforms and pointing in Averie and Andrew's direction. He notices first and nudges her, "All right. Well, we'll be in touch." "Thank you."

~Woods~

The siblings are loading shotguns at the trunk of the Impala. Brianna approaches from behind, "I see you got your car back." Averie jumps, "You really want to come near me when I got a loaded gun in my hands?" "Now, now. Mind your blood pressure. Why are you even still here? You have enough to I.D. the boat." Andrew looks at her "That girl back there saw the ship." "Yeah? And?" "And, he's going to die, so we have to save him." "How sweet." "You think this is funny?" She shrugs, "He's cannon fodder. He can't be saved in time, and you know it." Averie glares at her, "Yeah, well, see, we have souls, so ... we're gonna try." "Yeah, well, I'm actually going to find the ship and put an end to this. But you have fun."

As Averie gets into the Impala, she turns to Brianna, "Hey, how'd you get like this, huh? What, did Daddy not give you enough hugs or something?" "I don't know. Your daddy gave you enough? Don't you dare look down your nose at me. You're not better than I am." "We help people." "Come on. You do this out of vengeance and obsession. You're a stone's throw from being a serial killer. Whereas I, on the other hand, I get paid to do a job and I do it. So, you tell me – which is healthier?" "Why don't you just leave? We've got work to do." "Yeah. You're 0 for 2. Bang-up job so far."

~The Warrens House~

They are staking out the home of the last victim since the sister, Charlie, still lives there. They're in the Impala, Andrew is doing research, reading papers as Averie lays in the back. "Anything good?" "No, not really. I mean, both sisters are Duke University grads. No criminal record. I mean, a few speeding tickets. They inherited their father's real estate fortune six years ago." "How much?" "$112 million." "Nice life." "Yeah. I mean, nice, clean, aboveboard. So why did they see the ship? Why Shawn, too? What do they all have in common?" She yawns, "Maybe nothing." "No. There's always something."

Charlie spotted them, and came out of the house toward them, stopping inside her security gate, "Hey, you!" "I think we've been made." They get out of the car and approach her, "What are you guys doing?! You watching me?" "Ma'am, calm down. Please." "You guys aren't cops! Not dressed like that. Not – not in that crappy car." "Whoa, hey. No need to get nasty. We are cops, okay? We're undercover. We're here because we think you're in danger." Averie says, "From who?!" "If you just settle down, we'll talk about it." "Look, you guys just stay away from me!"

She runs to her own car and starts to drive it toward the gate, "Wait!" Averie sighs, "Hey, you moron! We're trying to help you!" As Charlie's car approaches the gate, the car shudders, coughs, and dies. "That can't be good." he sighs, "No. Get the salt gun." Averie runs back to the Impala as Andrew dashes to help. Inside the car, a spirit dressed in old seaman's clothes and a navy coat, his long hair dripping into his eyes, appears in the rear seat. Charlie turns to look but the spirit is gone; then it reappears in the front passenger seat. It turns to her and glares, then reaches out to touch her cheek. She convulses, choking on water that spills out of her mouth and struggling to get a breath. She scrabbles for the door, which locks itself, and she slumps over.

Andrew tries the car door, "Charlie!" she doesn't respond, but the spirit glares straight at him. Averie runs to the other side and aims the salt gun at the spirit, "Andrew." he ducks as she fires. The spirit disappears, and she reaches through the shattered glass to unlock the car doors. he yanks the drive-side door open and pulls Charlie back, checking for a pulse, but after a few seconds his shoulders slump and he sighs, shaking his head at Averie, she kicks the door in frustration.

~Abandoned House. Day~

Andrew is reading, Averie's playing on her phone. There is a knock at the door, Averie checks the door and sees that it is Brianna; they share a long look before she fully opens the door. "Dear ... God. Are you actually squatting? Charming...So how'd things go last night with Charlie?" Neither of them respond, she sighs, "That well, huh?" Averie glares at her, "If you say 'I told you so', I swear to God I'll start swinging." "Look, I think the three of us should have a heart-to-heart." "That's assuming that you have a heart." "Averie, please... I'm sorry about what I said before, okay? I come bearing gifts." he looks over, "Such as?" "I've ID'd the ship. It's the Espírito Santo, a merchant sailing vessel, quite a colorful history. In 1859 a sailor was accused of treason. He was tried aboard ship in a kangaroo court and hanged. He was 37." "Which would explain the 37 year cycle." he says, she smiles "Aren't you a sharp tack? There's a photo of him somewhere ..."

Averie holds up the picture for Andrew to see, "Isn't that the man we saw last night?" she looks at her, worried, "You saw him?" "Yeah, that's him, except he was missing a hand." "His right hand?" He looks over, "How'd you know?" "The sailor's body was cremated, but not before they cut off his hand to make a hand of glory." Averie chuckles, "A hand of glory? I think I got one of those at the end of my Thai massage last week." " _Averie_ , the right hand of a hanged man is a serious occult object. It's very powerful." Brianna sighs, "So they say." Averie walks back to Andrew, "It officially counts as remains." "But still, none of this explains why the ghost is choosing these victims." Brianna looks between them, "I'll tell you why. Who cares? Find the hand, burn it, and stop the bloody thing." "I don't get it. Why are you telling us all of this?" she asks, "Because I know exactly where the hand is." "Where?" "At the Sea Pines Museum. It's a macabre bit of maritime history. But I need help." He gives a confused look, "What kind of help?" she smiles.

-

The house is filled with lit candles, Brianna is wearing a fancy, black, evening gown with quite a lot of glittery necklace. She stands, waiting in the living room of the abandoned house; no one else is around. She walks over towards the stairs, "What is taking so long? Andrew's already halfway there... with his date." "So not okay with this!" Averie yells. "What are you, a model? Come down already." Averie walks down the stairs in a dress that is similar to Brianna's except for the slight lace on the collar, she has her dirty blonde hair back in a bun, "All right, get it out – I look ridiculous." she eyes her, smiling, "Not exactly the word I'd use." "What?" "You know, when this is over, we should really have angry sex." Averie shifts uncomfortably, looking away from her, "Don't objectify me...Let's go."

~Sea Pines Museum~

The two of them walk in, arm in arm, Brianna hands an invitation to the doorman. She looks at Averie and sees that she is chewing something, "Are you chewing gum? Try to behave as if you've lived this life before, yeah?" Averie looks around, takes out her gum, and sticks it under the flowing champagne fountain. Brianna looks appalled and rolls her eyes, she gives her a thumbs-up and they walk into the gathering. Not too far from them, Gertrude is handing her invitation to the doorman. Her hair is down, and she walks over to Andrew, also in a tux, lacing her arm through his. "This'll get their tongues wagging, eh, my Adonis?" he sighs, "Just remember, we're on business." "Ooooh, but sometimes business can be pleasure, hmm?" she slides a hand up his chest seductively, he clenches his jaw "Right."

They walk arm-and-arm into the room, she runs a hand over his back possessively. He tenses up and chuckles nervously, "You know, uh, could you excuse me for a moment?" "Of course." "Great. Thanks. Thanks." he pats her hand and walks over to Brianna and Averie. "Exactly how long do you expect me to entertain my date?" Brianna smiles, "As long as it takes." Averie sighs, "Look, there's security all over this place, all right. This is an uncrashable party without Gert's invitation, so..." he rolls his eyes, "We can crash anything, Av." "Yeah, I know, but this is easier and it's a lot more entertaining." "You know there are limits to what I'll do, right?" "Ah, he's playing hard to get, that's cute. Come on. I want all the details in the morning!" He smiles tightly, Brianna chuckles, "Thank you." he watches as they walk off.

Andrew adjusts his tuxedo considering his next move. Two glasses of champagne sit on the table before him, he takes them both and back over to Gertrude, she takes the one glass from him "To us." He looks at the champagne reluctantly than swigs the whole glass, Gertrude looks excited by his enthusiasm.

Averie and Brianna walk through to a less crowded room, talking in undertones to each other. "Private security?" "I don't think so. Look at the way they're standing. They're pros. Probably state troopers moonlighting." "Posted to every door, too." "Yeah, I don't think we're just going to be able to waltz upstairs." "What do you suggest?" "I'm thinking." she sighs, looking at her with an annoyed face, "Don't strain yourself...Interesting how the legend is so much more than the man." "You got any bright ideas, I'm all ears." Brianna groans and falls into Averie's arms. Averie, holding her, kneels down. "Honey? Honey, are you all right?" she looks around, and motions a waiter over. "Waiter! Hi. Uh, my wife has a severe shellfish allergy. Th-ere's no crab in that? Is there?"

"No, sir." "No?" She takes an appetizer from the silver tray and shoves it in her mouth. "Oh they're excellent, by the way." A Guard approaches them, "What seems to be the trouble?" "Ah ... champagne! My wife, she's a lightweight when it comes to the sauce. Is there somewhere I can lay her down till she gets her sea legs back?" "Follow me." "Right." She hands Brianna's purse to the Guard. "Thank you." she lifts her bridal style, "Come on, Baby." A few moments later, Averie lays Brianna down unceremoniously on a red leather couch. She turns to the Guard, "You think she's a pain in the ass now, try living with her. Thank you very much." sees the Guard to the door, she takes some money out of the purse, hands it to him, and shuts the door behind her as Brianna sits up.

She throws the bag to Brianna, "Hey maybe next time give me a little heads up with your plan?" she looks at her, "I didn't want you thinking. You're not very good at that." Averie sighs. "Oh, look at you. Searching for a witty rejoinder." "Screw you." "Very Oscar Wilde," she chuckles as Averie glares at her, "Room 235. It's in a locked glass case wired for alarm, I'm sure that won't be a problem." "I'm sure that won't be a problem." Averie mumbles as she walks out the door, leaving Brianna on the couch looking smug. Downstairs, something almost tango-esque is playing. Gertrude and Andrew, who looks rather uncomfortable, are dancing "Where's Lia and your friend? They're missing a great party." "Umm, ah, I'm sure they're entertaining themselves." "Oooh, naughty. Then I guess we'll just have to entertain ourselves as well."

Gertrude slides her hand down his back and grabs him, he jumps. "Whoa, uh ...Ha, y-you know, Mrs. Case, I—I'm sorry, Ms. Case ... I don't wanna give you the wrong idea." "Call me Gert." he nods, "Okay.." she lays her head on his chest, "You remind me of my late husband... He was shy too ... till we got below deck." He tenses up, she chuckles, "Mmmm, you're just all over the place" he looks freaked out by how rapidly this date is escalating beyond his control.

Brianna moves around in the room, looking at a ship in a bottle while waiting for Averie. There's a knock on the door, "Ma'am? Everything all right?" she moves across the room and answers the door clutching at her dress, gasping, and smiling as if caught in the act. "Hi." "Feeling better, I see." "Yes, much. Thank you." "So, if you're done with the room...?" She chuckles slightly, "Well... not exactly. Could we have a few more minutes?" "Uh.... Yes ma'am." She closes the door and jumps onto the couch, giggling and loudly saying for the Guard to hear "Stop it! That tickles!"

The Guard around the corner, bumping into Averie, coming from downstairs. She looks up at him, "Whoa. Sorry! It's, uh ... nature called." "Ah huh." "Thanks for looking after my wife." "Oh, she's ... being looked after, all right." He wheels around and walks off with a smile at her expense. Averie looks puzzled and then goes to the room. Opening the door, she sees Averie adjusting her sleeve. "Any trouble?" "Nothing I couldn't handle. The hand?" Averie pulls a mummified human hand out of her bag. Brianna walks over and holds out her hand, "May I?" "No." she pulls it back away from her, then unfolds a handkerchief to wrap it.

"It might be more inconspicuous in _my_ purse." "Nice try. It's fine in mine." she rolls her eyes, "Just trying to be helpful." "Well, sweetheart, I don't need your kind of help." Averie tucks the hand back into her purse, which is slightly smaller than Brianna's.

Downstairs, Gertrude is still leaning into Andrew's chest, clutching an empty champagne flute. She seems perhaps a bit tipsy, he signs and mutters "Man, this is one long song." she smiles, "I hope it never ends," she pauses while he looks deeply pained "How's the investigation going?" "These things take time." "People are talking about the Warren sisters' deaths. Strange. Do you think it's connected to Shawn's?" "Yeah. Yeah, we think so." "I think they had it coming, you know. In a Biblical sort of way." "What do you mean?" She looks up at him, "You know about their father?" "No?"

"Come here, I'll whisper it to you." "Uh—" she pulls him down so she can whisper to him, "People say that the old man didn't die of natural causes." he grimaces, "Then how?" she caresses his cheek, "Rumor is the girls did it. Nothing was ever proved, but, uh, people still say so". "Okay, okay, okay." he winces and pulls away, "Um, um, so did, did, did Shawn have any connection to them?" "Well, none that I know of." "Did he have any kind of tragedy in his life?" "Yes. As a matter of fact there was a ... car accident when he was a teenager." "What happened?"

She frowns, "His car flipped over. He was okay but his cousin Brooke was killed. Why, is that important?" "Uh..." Averie and Brianna walk over, Brianna smiles, "Well! Having a nice time?" Gertrude nods as she steps away and turns to her, "He's delightful! _I think he wants me._ " "Oh?" Averie has a look of surprise on her face, Andrew looks embarrassed and somewhat disgusted. Brianna starts walking to the door with Gertrude, whispering to them as she passes, "I'm going to get Gert into a cold shower. See you at the cemetery." "Great idea." Averie checks her purse, then glares at Andrew, "You smell like sex"

-

Andrew and Averie climb into the Impala, "You got it, right? Tell me I didn't get groped all night by Miss. Havisham for nothing." "I got it... Miss. Who?" "Never mind. Just let me see it." She pulls something out of her pocket and starts unwrapping it, looking uptight. He sees the look on her face, "What?" she holds up the ship in the bottle that Brianna had been looking at in the office. "I'm gonna kill her."

Across the lot, near a perfect view of the docks, Brianna climbs in her car and shuts the door, and looks in the purse at several packets of bills with $10,000 wrappers on them. She pulls one out and flips through it with a satisfied expression, then stares out into space for a moment. In the direction of the water, "Oh, no." A creaking sound is heard, she gets out of her car to look more closely at the ghost ship, which she now sees approaching with thunder and lightning.

~Abandoned House~

The house is dimly lit by candles, Averie stands next to the one candle examining the ship-in-a-bottle, "You know what, you're right. I'm not gonna kill her. I think slow torture's the way to go." Andrew sighs, looking up from his book "Av, you gotta relax." "Relax! Oh yeah, yeah, I'll relax. I can't believe she got another one over on us!" "You." "What?" He looks nervous, "I...I mean, she got ... one over ... on you, ... not us." she glares at him and raises her voice, "Thank you! Andrew. Very helpful." They both glance at the door as there is rapid knocking, "Hello? Could you open up?" Averie opens it and Brianna stands in front of her, "Just let me explain."

-

Brianna sits in a chair, Averie is leaning over her with a "I knew it" look, Andrew leans against the mantle, with a serious bitchface. "I sold it. I had a buyer lined up as soon as I knew it existed." Averie, furious, walks around her and makes a shooting motion with her fingers. He sighs, glaring at his sister, "So the whole reason for us going to the charity ball was...?" "I needed a cover. You were convenient." "Look, you sold it to a buyer. Just go buy it back." She frowns, "It's halfway across the ocean. I can't get it back in time." Averie chuckles, "In time for what?" she looks down, without answering right away. "What's going on with you, Bri? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I-I saw the ship." she looks at her like she expected as much, "You what? Wow, you know, I – I knew you were an immoral thieving con artist bitch, but just when I thought my opinion of you couldn't get any lower—" "What are you talking about?" "We figured out the spirit's motive." Andrew shows Brianna a photograph, "This is the captain of our ship. The one who hung our ghost boy." "So?" "So they were brothers. Very Cain and Abel. So now our spirit, he's going after a very specific kind of target – people who've spilled their own family's blood. See first there was Shawn who killed his cousin in the car accident, and the Warren sisters, who murdered their father for inheritance. And now you." "Oh my God."

Averie smiles, "So who was it? Hmm? Who'd you kill? Was it Daddy? Your little sis, maybe?" she quickly gets out of her chair, going to the window, "It's none of your business." "No? Riight. Well, have a nice life – you know, whatever's left of it. Andrew, let's go." She walks towards the door, picking up their jackets, Brianna grabs her arm, "You can't just leave me here." "Watch us." "Please. I need your help." "Our help? Now how could a couple of serial killers possibly help you?" "Okay, that was a bit harsh, I admit it, but it doesn't warrant a death sentence." Andrew sighs, "That's not why you're gonna die. What'd you do, Brianna?" "You wouldn't understand. No one did. Never mind. I'll just do what I've always done, I'll deal with it myself." She looks at her, "You do realize you just sold the one thing that could save your life." "I'm aware" Andrew bites his tongue, "Well ...maybe not the only thing."

~Cemetery~

Andrew sets up a kind of ritual circle: five candles, a pentagram, a bowl into which he pours a jar of red liquid. Another jar is on the opposite side of the circle, with what appear to be herbs in it. He places something else into the center of the circle, Brianna glances at Averie, "Do you really think this is going to work?" Averie leans on a tombstone, with a gun across her shoulder, "Almost definitely not." Thunder crashes; wind whistles; rain starts pouring. Andrew zips up his jacket, but fails to pull up his hood.

Averie stands up, looking around. "Andy! You better start reading." "Aziel, Cassiel, Lamisniel, Rabam. Ehrley, et balam, ego vos conuro, per deum verum, per deum vivum cuivos cuiaves eos supermontes et per eum, qui adam, et avum formovit. Et per eum," He continues shouting latin over the whirling wind, Averie looks at Brianna "Stay close!" she points behind her, "Behind you!"The phantom approaches and throws Averie through the air. She hits an object with a painful thud. Andrew looks up and continues reading, the phantom reaches out to Brianna and places his hand on her face. She begins coughing up water, the spirit watches as she falls to her knees.

Averie staggers over to her, to help support her through her heaves. "Andrew, read faster!" She continues to cough, starting to struggle. Suddenly the rain dies down. Her coughing doesn't seem so bad anymore, Averie puts her arms around her. A creaking sound is heard, the spirit's head slowly turns toward the source of the noise. He sees his brother, "You... hanged me!" "I'm sorry." "Your own brother." "I'm so sorry!" The spirit charges at his brother's spirit, and the two dissolve into screams, and a splash of water. Brianna lays back into Averie's arms, no longer coughing water.

~Abandoned House. Early Morning~

Andrew and Averie are packing, getting ready to leave their squatted residency. The door opens and Brianna walks in, "You should learn to lock your doors. Anyone could just barge in." Averie turns around, "Anyone just did. Did you come to say goodbye or thank you?" "I've come to settle affairs. Giving the spirit what he really wanted, his own brother – very clever, Andrew. So here." She tosses them each a packet of money, "It's ten thousand – that should cover it." They look at the packets of money and then at Brianna, "I don't like being in anyone's debt."

Averie chuckles, "So ponying up ten grand is easier for you than a simple thank you?" she smiles faintly. Averie shakes her head, "You're so damaged." "Takes one to know one. Goodbye mates." Andrew looks at Averie after Brianna leaves, "She got style. You gotta give her that." "I suppose." "You know, Av, we don't know where this money's been." "No, but I know where it's going..." he shakes his head, she smiles, "What? C'mon I have ten grand."

~Road~

Andrew has a map sprawled out in his lap as Averie sings along to "Ramblin' Man" He looks over at her, "Seriously? Atlantic City?" "Hell yeah! Play some roulette. Always bet on black." She sighs at the silence right after, "Hey listen, I've been doing some thinking. Um ... I want you to know I understand why you did it. I understand why you went after the crossroads demon." he glances at her, she continues, "You know, if the situation was reversed, I guess I'd've done the same thing. I mean I'm not blind, I see what you're going through with this whole deal, me going away and all that. But you're gonna be okay."

He scoffs, "You think so." "Yeah, you'll keep hunting, y'know, you live your life. You're stronger than me. You are! You'll get over it. But I want you to know I'm sorry, I'm sorry for... putting you through all this, I am." "You know what, Av? Go fuck yourself." "What?" "I don't want an apology from you! And by the way, I'm a big boy now, I can take care of myself." "Oh, well, excuse me." he starts getting upset and raises his voice, "Would you please quit worrying about me? I mean that's the whole problem in the first place. I don't want you to worry about me, Av, I want you to worry about you! I want you to give a crap that you're dying!" She says nothing, but chuckles, "So, that's it? Nothing else to say for you?" "I think maybe I'll play craps." he stares at her, outraged. " _This god-damn deal..I should be dead, and you shouldnt be dying.._ " he mutters to himself, she hears some of it and her smile fades.


	7. Fresh Blood

Brianna approaches her car, parked by a deserted rural bridge. As she reaches the car, she's startled by a reflection of a figure in the window — it's Luna Young. "It's rude to sneak up on people." she says to her, "Hello, Brianna." "You have me at a disadvantage. I don't know who you are." "Luna Young." "I've heard of you. Heard you were in prison.." "Got out." "Released early on good behavior?" She opens the car door and casually reaches inside; Luna holds up a small gun. "Looking for this?" she takes out the clip, "I know you were just in Massachusetts, and I know you were with the Walkers. Tell me where they are." she tenses up, "I don't think I know." "You don't?" Luna asks pulling another, silenced, handgun on her "Why don't you think a little harder?"

"Put that down. What's so pressing about finding them, anyway?" "Andrew Walker's the Antichrist." Brianna nods, "Mmm. I'd heard something about that.." "It's true." "... from my good friend, the Easter Bunny, who'd heard it from the Tooth Fairy. Are you off your meds?" She glares at her, "The world hangs in the balance. So you go ahead and be a smart-ass, but tell me where they are, or I shoot." "Luna, you and I don't know each other very well, so let me tell you a little something about me. I don't respond well to threats, but you make me an offer? And I think you'll find me highly cooperative." "Okay." she lowers the gun, "How about...you tell me where they are, or I kill you right now?" "Kill me. Good luck finding Andrew and Averie." She sighs, "I can wrangle up three grand."

"I don't get out of bed for three grand." "You..." As she lowers her arm, Brianna sees a small cloth bag hanging at her belt. Her eyes light up, "Scratch that. Give me the mojo bag, and we'll call it even." "Oh, hell no. This thing's a century old. It's..." she smiles, "Priceless. Believe me, I know. Now, how badly do you want the Walkers?" Luna tosses her the bag, Brianns pulls out her cell phone and dials, "Hello, Averie? Hey, where are you?"

~Alley. Albany, New York~

Averie and Andrew run quickly through an alley, shining flashlights around. They spot a pool of blood and walk over to it, to find a man lying bleeding but conscious on the ground. He has been bitten in the neck, they crouch over him, Andrew takes his jacket off and holds it over the man's neck. "Hey, hey. Don't worry. We're gonna call you some help, okay?" Averie looks at the man, "Where is she? Where'd she go?!" he gestures vaguely down the alley. Andrew stays with the man as she runs off in that direction. She stops in the middle of another alley, sees no one. She raises her machete, pulls up a sleeve, and slowly draws the machete across her left forearm, drawing blood. "Smell that?! Come and get it!" a young woman emerges from a side alley and stares; her chin is covered in blood. "That's right. Come on. I smell good, don't I? I taste even better."

The vampire approaches cautiously. She holds up the machete, then drops it, luring her in. "Come on! Free lunch!" she charges; as she grabs her and sinks her teeth into her neck, Averie whips out a syringe and plunges it into her neck. She convulses and falls to the ground, unconscious. "Whoo!" she touches her neck, looking at the blood, Andrew comes running. He looks at the girl on the ground, and back at Averie, frowning. "What?" "Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" "Ah ... that's just chum in the water. Worked, didn't it?" he looks at her concerned. She looks down at the cut on her arm, "Ow..."

~Abandoned Motel. Day~

It is a dingier room than the Walkers usually occupy; old mattresses line the walls, blocking out all external light. The vampire, whose face is still covered with blood, is tied to a chair in the middle of the room, they stand near her chair. She comes to consciousness, and looks around, Averie looks at her, "You with us?" she wakes up fully, struggles against her bonds, "Oh, yeah, sorry. You're not going anywhere." Andrew walks over to her, "Where's your nest?" "W-What?" "Your nest... where you and your bloodsucking pals hang out." "I don't know what you're talking about." Averie and Andrew look at each other, chuckling. "Please! I don't feel good." Averie sighs, "Yeah, well, you're gonna feel a hell of a lot worse if we give you another shot of dead man's blood."

The vampire struggles against her bonds again, "Just let me go." "You know we can't do that." "I'm telling you the truth. I'm just... I took something. I'm freaking out! I don't know what's going on!" he tilts his head, "You took something?" "Yes! I can't... come down. I just want to come down." "What's your name?" "Lucy. Please. Just let me go." "All right, Lucy, how about this? If you tell us what happened, we'll let you go." "You will?" she looks at Averie, who nods and smiles in a completely insincere way, then shoots Andrew a confused look over her head. "Uh, I don't really... um, it's, it's not that clear. I was at Spider." "Spider?" "The club, on Jefferson. And there was this guy... he was buying me drinks." "This guy... what's he look like?" She coughs, "He was old, like thirty. He had brown hair, a leather jacket... uh, Deacon or Dixon or something. Said he was a dealer... he had something for me."

Averie sighs, "Something?" "Something new. "Better than anything you've ever tried." He put a few drops in my drink." "Was the drug red and thick?" she nods. Averie shoots Andrew a look; Andrew shakes his head in disbelief, she looks back at Lucy "Well, genius move there. That was vampire blood he dosed you with." "W-What?" "Yeah, you just took a big steamin' shot of the nastiest virus out there." "You're crazy! He gave me roofies or something! No... The next thing I know, we're at his place, and he says he's gonna get me something to eat, just wait. But I get so hungry." "So you busted out?" "But it won't wear off... whatever he gave me." "Lights are too bright? Sunshine hurt your skin?" "Yeah... And smells. And I can... hear blood pumping!" "Well, I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but your blood's never pumping again." Lucy shakes her head, "Not mine... yours. I can hear a heart beating from half a block away. I just want it to stop."

She chuckles, "All right, listen, Wavy Gravy. It's not going to stop. You've already killed two people, almost three." "No, I couldn't. No-! I was hallucinating!" "You killed them, all right? We've been following a sloppy trail of corpses, and it leads straight to you." "No. No, it wasn't real! It was the drug! Please! Please, you have to help me!" Andrew jerks his head at Averie, they both step out of the room, "Poor girl." "We don't have a choice." he sighs, and shakes his head. Averie takes her machete back in the room, "No... please!" Lucy screams and there is a thud. Andrew flinces as he sees Averie decapitate Lucy.

~Hospital~

The man that the Walkers rescued is in a hospital bed, a bandage on his neck and an I.V. in his arm. Luna and Alonzo walk into the room, impersonating FBI agents, "Sir. A few questions about the attack." the man looks up at Luna, "I already talked to the cops." "Well, we're not cops. We're FBI." They both flash their badges, "FBI?" Alonzo nods, "Can you describe your attacker?" "Uh .... She was crazy. She had that, uh, super-PCP strength, you know? She gnawed on my neck." "And did she bleed on you?" "On me? No." "In your mouth, open wound, anything? You sure about that?" "Yeah, I'm sure. Why do you ask?" Luna looks at him, annoyed, "This woman has a very dangerous virus." "What? She bit me in the neck!" "The bite doesn't matter. You have to actually ingest the blood to be infected." The man sighs in relief, she chuckles, "Good thing, too. We'd have had to kill you." he laughs nervously but she just stares at him, dead serious. "The attack?" "She jumped me, then bit me. Then these two people found me and chased her down the alley." "What did they look like?" "Uh, I didn't get a good look." "Think." "One of them was a man, he was real tall." Luna turns and gives Alonzo a murderous look.

~Bar (Spider). Night~

Andrew and Averie exit Spider, a club with red lights and beautiful young people drinking things. They look frustrated, "That was a big, fat waste of time." Andrew shrugs, "Look, three blondes have gone missing, including Lucy, all last sighted here. I'm telling you, Averie, this is the hunting ground." Across the street, Averie sees a 30-something man duck into an alley with his arm around a young blonde, "Andrew, over there" In the alley across from the club, the man holds up a dropper full of red liquid, and the girl giggles, "You're sick." the man smiles, "You ready, sweetie? One taste of this, you'll never be the same." He raises the dropper; she opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out to catch the drops. Before any can fall in, Averie grabs the man's arm, pulls it down, and clocks him in the face. Andrew pulls the girl away and shoves her towards the end of the alley, "Get out of here. go! Go!" The vampire hurls Averie into a brick wall, then takes off at a run, Andrew goes over and helps her up.

"Av?" she groans, "I'm good. Come on." They take off after the vampire; as they run around the corner, the vampire is nowhere in sight. But facing them, guns at their sides, are Luna and Alonzo. Luna raises her gun, the two advance, firing freely. Andrew and Averie dive behind parked cars and manage to entirely avoid getting shot. They duck behind a wall and crouch, panting as Luna and Alonzo reload, she turns to Andrew, "All right. Run. I'll draw them off." "What?! No, you're crazy!" Ignoring him, she darts out into the line of fire, leaps on top of a car and uses it to get over a second-story parking lot entrance. Alonzi follows her, Luna stays behind and heads for where they had been hiding. As he rounds a corner, a figure leaps down on him from above, sending him sprawling: it is the Vampire. He kicks Luna in the face several times and knocks her out.

~Abandoned Motel Room~

Andrew paces back and forth, alone, and worried. Averie walks in the room, she has dried blood on her leg, "There you are!" "Yeah. Sorry, I stopped for a slice." "Nice move you pulled back there, Av. Running right at the weapons!" She chuckles, limping slightly as she moves to the one chair, "Well, what can I say? I'm a bad-ass." she ignores Andrew's worried look, "So I guess Luna's out of jail." "Uh, yeah, I guess so. You know, how the hell did she know where to find us?" She shrugs before looking up at him, "That bitch." he gives her a confused look as she takes her phone out and dials a number. "Hi, Brianna." " _Hello, Averie._ " "Question for you. When you called me yesterday, it wasn't to thank me for saving your ass, was it?" " _Not at all. Luna Young paid me to tell her where you were_." "Excuse me?" " _Well, she had a gun on me. What else was I supposed to do?_ " "I don't know, maybe pick up the phone and tell us that a raging psychopath was dropping by?!" " _Ah. I did fully intend to call, I just got a bit distracted_." "She tried to kill us!"

Averie grabs her phone tighter, obviously very angry, " _I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was such a big deal. After all, there are two of you and one of her_." "There were two of them." " _Oh.._ " "Brianna, if we make it out of this alive, the first thing I'm gonna do is kill you." " _You're not serious._ " "Listen to my voice and tell me if I'm serious. You are dead. You better hide, because I will track you down." She listens as Brianna's voice changes from smug to terrified, " _Averie, I'm sorry..I had no idea. Please, just- I'm sure we can work this out._ " "It's too late for that." she hangs up, throwing the phone onto the table. Andrew looks at her, "You weren't serious, were you?" "I was, she told her where we are. She set us up!" "Yeah, but what if she really didn't know Luna had a partner?" "Then she can make some last minute peace when I find her." "Just calm down. We have to focus on Luna and the vamps. Not killing an innocent woman!" she glares at him, "I guess you're right. But, she's gonna have hell to pay."

~Vampire Nest~

The Vampire Nest is a dank abandoned storefront with a neon sign outside reading "Trade Co". Inside, Luna is tied spread-eagled to a metal bed frame. She painfully regains consciousness, looking across the room and can see candles, some armchairs, and two young blonde women in bloodstained white shirts strung up in shackles, dangling from their wrists. They move sluggishly, the vampire enters with a jar of blood. She watches as he walks over to the one woman and makes her drink a cup of blood, which she takes happily, "I know you're uncomfortable... but this is just temporary. The hunger will pass, and then you'll feel much better." he moves to the second woman, noticing Luna is watching. "Who are they?" she asks, he turns to her, "Family." "You always keep your family in shackles?" "We're still getting to know each other. They have just been reborn." "You mean you grabbed some poor girls off the street and made them monsters like you."

The vampire shrugs, "I do what I have to. We're a dying breed. But then, you know that, don't you Luna? Luna Young. One of the greatest living vampire hunters." "In the flesh." "You're a big part of why my people are nearly extinct." Luna scoffs, "Your "people" are going extinct because you're a bunch of mindless, bloodthirsty animals." He laughs slightly, "Right. We're so much more bloodthirsty than you. Hunters slaughtered my entire nest like they were having a party. Murdered my daughter. I can't tell you how satisfying this is... catching a hunter responsible for so many deaths and making you lunch for my new daughters." he shows her a print of a sepia-toned photograph or daguerreotype of a woman in pre-20th century garb, presumably his daughter. "Daughters? Try fang whores." "Watch your mouth." "Oh, did I hurt your feelings? I'm sorry. I forgot you're just a misunderstood victim. Even though you murder and spread your filthy disease on pure base instinct. You got less humanity than a sewer rat." "I'm sorry you have such a low opinion of my people."

She chuckles, "Oh, you have no idea." the Vampire turns back to the two blonde women, "Sorry, change of plans. I'll be going out to get your lunch. I've got a better idea for you." He takes a knife and slices open Luna's arm, then his own, and presses the cuts together. She struggles and stares in horror, "No! No! No!" he smiles, wiping the blood off his arm and leaving as Luna continues yanking on the ties that hold her on the bed frame, yelling at him.

~Abandoned Motel Room. Afternoon.~

Averie sharpens her machete on a whetstone while Andrew cleans a gun beside her. "That vampire's still out there, Av." "First things first." "Luna." "About that. When we find her, or if she finds us... Well I'm just saying she's not leaving us a whole lot of options." He nods, "Yeah, I know. We've got to kill her." she looks over at him, "Really? Just like that? I thought you would have been like, 'No, we can't, she's human, it's wrong.'." "No, I'm done. I mean, Luna's not gonna stop until we're dead... or till she is." Averie's cell phone rings; she looks at it, scowls, and answers angrily. "What?!" " _I don't like it when people hold grudges against me, and more to the point, I'd rather you didn't kill me, so I went ahead and found Luna's exact location for you._ " Brianna says, "You're a hundred miles away. How the hell did you—" " _Hello? Purveyor of powerful occult objects? I used a talking board to contact the other side._ " "And?" " _Warehouse. Two stories, riverfront, neon sign outside._ " "Thanks." " _One more thing. The spirit had a message for you. "Leave town, run like hell, and whatever you do, don't go after Luna." For whatever that's worth._ "

~Vampire Nest~

Luna awakens again; this time she's hanging by her wrists from the ceiling as lights and noises become overwhelming. She struggles with her chains, ripping them out of the ceiling after a few tries. As she unwinds them from her wrists, the women beg pitifully for her help. She walks over, fueled by the feeling of blood-thirsty hunger, "I'm sorry." she grabs the first woman's shoulder and neck, ripping it off. She looks at the second woman, who starts screaming, she does the same thing. Luna wipes the blood on her shirt and walks outside. She flinches at every sudden light and sound, stares up at a loudly buzzing, glaringly bright street lamp. She covers her ears in agony as a car passes by, trailing a red light behind. Across the alley she sees a man crouched in front of a car, changing a tire. She struggles with temptation, then staggers over to a window and leans against it, panting. She looks up at her reflection in the glass and bares her teeth; fangs emerge to fill her mouth.

A while later, the man finishes changing the tire and gets in his car. Before he can start the ignition, Luna sits up suddenly in the back seat and grabs the man from behind. He struggles against her, "Let go of me! Just take what you want!" she looks at him, her bloodshot eyes staring at his neck as she hears his heartbeat quicken, "Oh, I'll get what I want." She digs her fangs into his neck, pulling a chunk of flesh out, blood sprays the window before she moves to cover the wound with her mouth.

-

Andrew and Averie creep down the steps into the room where Luna had been held. The bodies of the girls are still hanging, the Vampire is kneeling in front of them, tears running down his face. Averie takes a knife from the table and approaches him slowly; he hears her coming but doesn't move. "Go ahead. Do it. Kill me." Andrew moves infront of him, "What happened here?" "Luna Young. I never should have brought a hunter here. Never. I just... I just wanted some kind of revenge. Stupid... exposing her to my family." Averie scoffs, "Oh, yeah, you're such a family man." "You don't understand." "I don't want to understand, you son of—" "I was desperate! You ever felt desperate? I've lost everyone I ever loved. I'm staring down eternity alone. Can you think of a worse hell?" She looks at him, understanding what he is saying, "Uh, well, there's Hell."

He looks up at her, "I wasn't thinking. I just ... I didn't care anymore. Do you know it's like when you just don't give a damn? It's like ... it's like being dead already. So just go ahead." he grabs her arm, pleading, "Do it." Andrew looks at the women, "Av. Head wasn't cut off, it was ripped off. With someone's bare hands. Dixon, what did you do to Luna?"

~Alonzo's RV~

Alonzo hears a noise, pulls back the curtains to look outside. When he turns around again, Luna is there, staring at him. "Luna. You okay?" he asks, clearly spooked from how she snuck behind him, "Not even close." "I thought maybe you were dead. What is it?" "Something ... happened." "What?" "They turned me." He looks at her, hurt by the news, "'They' those- those fangs?" she nods, "I-I'm sorry. You know what this means." "It means you have to kill me." she grabs him by the shoulders, "But not yet." "What do you mean?" "You have to let me do one last thing first." "What is it?" "Kill Andrew Walker." "Luna..." She sighs sadly, "It's the only... it is the one good thing to come out of this nightmare. I'm stronger, I'm faster – I can finish him." "Lun... I'm sorry. You know I can't let you walk out of here." "Listen to me. There is nothing more important. Please." she walks away, facing a crucifix on the wall, "I can do one last good thing for the world."

Behind her, out of sight, Alonzo carefully reaches for his machete. She hears his heart rate increase, "Yeah. I hear you. You know, you're right. One last good thing." Alonzo approaches with the blade, and at the last moment Luna turns, driving her hand into his stomach. She pulls her gory hand out and stares at it; he slumps forward onto her shoulder, she kisses his forehead, "I'm sorry."

~Abandoned Motel Room~

Averie walks into the room, frustrated, and removes her jacket. Andrew sits at the table, poring over maps. She throws something at the one bed, "Man, I must have checked three dozen motels, empty buildings, warehouses ..." he sighs, "Yeah, me too. Big city." "It's like a giant haystack, and Luna is a deadly needle. We're running out of daylight. Won't have the sun slowing her down." "Yeah, she'll be unstoppable." He looks over at her, "Hey, uh, give me your phone." she hands it over, "What for?" he pulls out the SIM cards from his and Averie's phones. "Well, if she knows our cell numbers she can use the cell signal to track us down." "Right.." He stomps on both SIM cards as she looks out the curtains, "Andy, stay here." "What? Where you going now?"

She takes the Colt out of her bag, checking the bullets, "I'm going after Luna." "What?" "You heard me." "Not alone, you're not." "Andrew, I don't need you to sign me a permission slip, okay? She's after you, not me, and she's turbocharged. I want you to stay out of harm's way. I'll take care of it." "Well, you're not going by yourself. You're gonna get yourself killed!" Averie chuckles, "Just another day at the office. It's a massively dangerous day at the office." Andrew shakes his head, "So you're the girl with nothing to lose now, huh? Oh wait, let me guess. Because, uh, it's because you're already dead, right?" "If the shoe fits." "You know what? I'm sick and tired of your kamikaze trip" "Whoa, whoa, kamikaze? I'm more like a ninja." He glares at her, "That's not funny." "It's a little funny." "No. It's not." "What do you want me to do, huh? Sit around all day writing sad poems about how I'm gonna die? You know what? I got one. Let's see, what rhymes with "shut up, Andrew"?"

Andrew scoffs, "Av, drop the attitude. Quit turning everything into a punchline. And you know something else? Stop trying to act like you're not afraid" "I'm not!" "You're lying. And you may as well drop it 'cause I can see right through you." She looks at him in anger and sadness, "You got no idea what you're talking about." "Yeah, I do. You're scared, Averie. You're scared because your year is running out, and you're still going to Hell, and you're freaked." "And how do you know that?" "Because I know you!" "Really?" "Yeah, I've been following you around my entire life! I mean, I've been looking up to you since I was four, Av. Studying you, trying to be just like my big sister. So yeah, I know you. Better than anyone else in the entire world. And this is exactly how you act when you're terrified. And, I mean, I can't blame you. It's just..." he tears up, looking away from her, "What?" "I wish you would drop the show and be my sister again. 'Cause...I won't be able to handle you leaving, and I can't handle you trying to get yourself killed." She nods, tearing up herself, "All right, we'll hole up, cover our scent so he can't track us, and wait the night out here."

-

Averie barricades the doors and windows as Andrew lights a bundle of sage, her phone rings. He turns to her, "You've had that phone for two hours. Who'd you give the number to?" "Nobody." she looks down at the number and answers, "Hello?" " _Averie_." "How'd you get this number?" " _Your scent's all over the cellphone store. Of course, I can't smell you now. Where are you?_ " "Well, I guess you'll just have to find us, won't you." " _I'd rather you come to me_." "What's the matter, Lunie? You're not afraid of us, are you? We're just sitting here. Bring it on!" " _Oh, I don't think so._ " She looks up at Andrew, then a different voice cuts through, " _Please. Help me. Please._ " "Hey, ma'am everything is gonna be okay. You'll be safe.." " _Factory on Riverside off the turnpike. Be here in 20 minutes or the girl dies._ " "Luna, let the girl go." " _Bye, Averie._ " "Don't do this. You don't kill innocent people. You're still a hunter." " _No. I'm a monste_ r."

~Factory. Night~

Andrew and Averie find the hostage and untie her, "Hey, we got you. Don't worry. We're gonna get you out of here." Andrew says as he helps her up, "Watch your head. Watch your head." The woman is sobbing and can barely walk, so Averie slings her arm over her own shoulders and picks her up. "Andrew, stay close." He follows them closely, but not closely enough: a mechanized door suddenly slides down in front of Andrew, cutting him off from the others. "Andrew!" She sets the woman down, "Stay right there." she starts to pound and kick at the door, he hits at it a few times. "Av!" "Damn it!" He pounds the door one last time in frustration, then turns and walks away from it, eyes darting around. "Andy, be careful!" the lights go out, he freezes, bringing his machete up, and starts creeping around with his other arm held out blindly.

"Luna! You got me where you want me. You might as well come out and fight!" Luna walks behind him, "I'm right here." He swings his machete; it swishes through the air and doesn't make contact. "What's the matter, Andy?!" Averie yells, hitting the door again, he ignores her and continues looking for Luna, "So, this is really the way you want to do it, huh?" "Damn right I do." Andrew touches the wall, using it as a guide while Luna's inferred vision helps her watch him. She glares at him, "You have no idea what I faced to get here. I lost everything. My life. But it's worth it, 'cause I'm finally gonna kill the most dangerous thing I ever hunted. You're not human, Andrew." "Look who's talking." "You're right. I'm a bloodthirsty killer." She continues to stalk him, he keeps swinging the machete about in the dark, "Don't talk about it like you don't have a choice." "I don't." "Yes you do, Luna. You didn't kill that girl." "No, I didn't. I did something much, much worse."

On the other side of the door Averie is still hacking away. As she tosses the tool away in frustration, the girl looks up at her clearly in some sort of drivin way. "Are you alright?" Averie asks, she nods than closes her eyes as she starts to hear Averie's heartbeat. She looks back up at Averie and attacks, knocking her to the ground. She grabs the woman and throws her off, digging in her pocket, she pulls out the Colt, and fires a single bullet into her forehead. The vampire convulses, energy crackling, and slumps to the floor.

Andrew still feels around blindly as Luna taunts him, "I got to hand it to you. You got a lot of people fooled. But see, I know the truth. I know what it's like. We're the same now, you and me. I know how it is walking around with something evil inside you. It's just too bad you won't do the right thing and kill yourself. I'm gonna ... as soon as I'm done with you. Two last good deeds. Killing you, and killing myself." While she has been talking, Andrew has been backed into a corner, facing her. She attacks, sending them both flying through the wall separating them from Averie even more. The impact briefly knocks the machete out of Andrew's hand. He picks it up again, as Luna grabs him and flings him across the room. Averie comes up from behind and points the Colt at Luna's head, but she is too fast for her.

Luna grabs Averie's arm, flings her across the room, then pins her against the wall and sinks her teeth into her neck. Andrew picks himself up in time to see Luna pull away from Averie as she grabs her neck, collapsing to the floor as she tries to calm the bleeding. "Averie!" he charges Luna and clocks her across the back of the neck. Luna turns away from Averie and knocks Andrew back, slamming him across a work table. He manages to grab a piece of cloth and an end of razor wire in each hand; as Luna pins him down again he wraps the razor wire around her neck and pulls. She begins to choke out a death-rattle, and he glares, pulling harder. Blood drips from his hands where the razor wire is cutting in, and yet he pulls harder, until he cuts all the way through Luna's neck and sends her head tumbling. He pants from the effort, stares down at the head on the ground, and examines his bloody hands.

Averie staggers to her feet, groaning and coughing while clutching her neck in pain. She's still holding the Colt, she looks down in surprise at the headless Luna, then back up at Andrew, who shrugs. "You just charged a super-vamped-out Luna with no weapon. That's a little reckless, don't you think?" she asks, he shakes his head then walks over to her "How's your neck..Did the bleeding die down?" "Maybe, then again, my hand is covered in blood. And don't worry about my neck, don't your hands hurt?" He nods, she chuckles as she pulls something out of her pocket and puts it on her neck "Why don't we take a small break?" "That sounds good. Really good."

~Old Road. Morning.~

Averie is under the hood of the Impala, poking at something, she sings along to the radio as it plays Crazy Circles. "Life is like a carousel: you aim for heaven, and you wind up in hell. To all the world you're livin' like a king, but you're just a puppet on a broken string" Andrew opens a cooler and pulls out two beers, he opens one bottle and walks over to Averie, "Av." She looks up as he hands her the bottle, "Thanks." he nods, "Figure out what's making that rattle?" she sighs, "Not yet. Give me a box wrench, would you?" "Yeah." He digs through the bag of tools she has, "Here." she takes it from him, he leans against the Impala's door and watches as a car passes by, "Uh, Andy." "Wrong one?" "No no no, come here for a second." He leans over the hood with her, "Yeah?" "This rattle could be a couple of things. I'm thinking it's an out-of-tune carb." "Okay.."

She looks up and sees he is confused, she starts pointing to the things she is talking about, "All right, see this thing? It's a valve cover. Inside are all the parts that are on the head. Hand me that socket wrench." he hands it to her, still watching closely, "All right, you with me so far?" "Yeah, uh, valve cover covers the heads." "Very good. Now this is your intake manifold, okay, and on top of it?" He thinks for a moment, "It's, uh, uh, a carburetor." "Carburetor." she says, nodding, "Yeah." "Good." he looks at her, "What's with the auto shop?" she holds out the socket wrench, smiling, he chuckles, "What, you don't mean you want—" "Yeah, I do. You fix it." "Av, you barely let me drive this thing." She shrugs, "Well, it's time. You should know how to fix it. You're gonna need to know these things for the future. And besides, that's my job, right? Show my little brother the ropes?" he nods and takes the wrench, leaning in to start unscrewing. Averie sits on the cooler and turns slightly to watch, "Put your shoulder into it." "I am." "If you are, then you are incredibly weak" he starts laughing, "Oh shut up, Jerk" she smiles, taking a sip of her beer "Make me, Bitch." The radio starts playing "Hells Bells" as the two of them joke around and fix the Impala.


	8. A Hunter's Christmas

~Family Home. Seattle, Washington. December 24th, 2006.~

The living room is decorated for Christmas, the tree is up and there are many different decorations hanging around, mostly lights and garland. There's a knock at the door and a little boy, Stevie, opens the door, "Merry Christmas Eve, Grandpa." Oh, it's good to see you too, Stevie." He hugs Stevie before going into the room, "Did you bring me any presents?" "Now, why would I want to do that?" he asks, smiling, "'Cause tomorrow's Christmas." "Oh! I thought Santa Claus brought the presents at Christmas. You have been a good boy this year, haven't you?" "I have, I swear." He chuckles as Stevie looks up at him, "Well, then, who knows? Maybe he'll come." "I hope Mommy comes home.." "She will, she never misses Christmas, does she?"

-

Stevie's Grandfather, Joshua, is dressing in a Santa suit next to the Christmas tree. He puts on a fake beard and the hat jingles. Stevie walks part of the way down the stairs and watches Joshua take presents out of a big red bag. He smiles, whispering "Santa." Joshua looks up when there is a sudden thumping sound coming from the roof. "Reindeer.." he looks around confused, but returns his attention to his bag. More sounds are heard, like someone is walking on the roof. He looks up, but the sounds stop again. Ash falls from the chimney into the fireplace. Joshua investigates while Stevie watches from the staircase. Suddenly hands grab Joshua and pull him up the chimney. Stevie walks over to the chimney, confused and scared, "Santa?" one of Joshua's boots falls down with bloodstains on it.

~Same Home. Present Day (December 23rd, 2007)~

A girl looks outside through the glass door and a woman stands outside, being interviewed. "Um, my daughter and I were in our beds. Jimmy was downstairs decorating the tree. I heard a thump on the roof and then I heard him scream. And now I'm talking to the FBI." Averie nods, "And you didn't see any of it?" "No, he was... he was just gone." "The doors were locked? There was no forced entry?" "That's right." "Does anybody else have a key?" "My parents." She sighs, "Where do they live?" "F-Florida." Andrew walks out of the house and stops next to Averie, turning to the woman, "Thanks for letting me have a look around, Mrs. Walsh. I think we, uh, got just about everything we need. We're all set." Averie glances at him, "We'll be in touch." she nods.

The siblings walk down the steps, "Agents..." they turn around, "The police said my husband might have been kidnapped." Averie shrugs, "Could've been." "Then why haven't the kidnappers called? O-or – or demanded a ransom? It's three days till Christmas. What am I supposed to tell our daughter?" Andrew frowns, "We're very sorry." They walk away and Mrs. Walsh turns to go inside, looking up at her daughter sadly. Averie looks at him, "Find anything?" "Stocking, mistletoe... this," he pulls something out of his pocket, she takes it from him. "A tooth? Where was this?" "In the chimney." "Chimney? No way a man fits up a chimney. It's too narrow." "No way he fits up in one piece." "Alright, so, if the Dad went up the chimney—" "We need to find out what dragged him up there."

~Motel Room~

Pictures of demons are pinned up on the wall, Andrew is searching the Internet for information about many other types of demons. The door opens and Averie walks inside, carrying a brown paper bag, "So, was I right? Is it the serial-killing chimney sweep?" he chuckles, "Yep. It's, uh, it's actually Dick Van Dyke." "Who?" "Uh, Mary Poppins?" "Who's that?" He sighs, Oh come on— never mind." she gives him a confused look, "Well, it turns out that C.J Walsh is the second person in town grabbed out of his house this month." "Oh yeah?" "Yeah." "The other guy got dragged up the chimney, too?" She shrugs, sitting in front of him, "Don't know. Witnesses said they heard a thump on the roof. So, what the hell do you think we're dealing with?" "Actually, I have an idea." "Yeah?" "Uh, it's gonna sound crazy." "What could you possibly say that sounds crazy to me?" "Um... evil Santa." he smiles slightly, she looks at him shaking her head, "Yeah, that's crazy and stupid." "Yeah... I mean, I'm just saying that there's some version of the anti-Claus in every culture." he turns the laptop to her, showing her pictures of various 'evil Santas', "You got Belsnickel, Krampus, Black Peter. Whatever you want to call it, there's all sorts of lore."

She nods, "Saying what?" "Saying back in the day, Santa's brother went rogue and now he shows up around Christmas time, but instead of bringing presents, he punishes the wicked." "By hauling their ass up chimneys?" "For starters, yeah." "So, this is your theory, huh? Santa's shady brother?" Andrew looks at the laptop nervously, "Well, ah – I'm just saying, that's what the lore says." Averie chuckles lightly, "Santa doesn't have a brother. There is no Santa." "Yeah, I know. You're the one who told me that in the first place, remember." He glances at her, she looks down, maybe feeling a little guilty. He turns back to his laptop and sighs, "Yeah, you know what, I could be wrong. I ...gotta be wrong." she thinks for a moment, "Maybe, maybe not." "What?" "I did a little digging. Turns out both victims visited the same place before they got snatched." "Where?"

~Santa's Village/Children's Entertainment Center~

Christmas music plays through speakers, children are running around together, and people wearing Christmas costumes are walking. Averie looks around at the decorations, "It does kind of lend credence to the theory, don't it?" "Yeah, but anti-Claus? Couldn't be." "It's a Christmas miracle. Hey, speaking of, we should have one this year." "Have one what?" "A Christmas." he scoffs, "No, thanks." "Come on, we'll get a tree, a little Boston market, just like when we were little." "Av, those weren't exactly Hallmark memories for me, you know." "What are you talking about? We had some great Christmases." "Whose childhood are you talking about?" "Oh, come on, Andrew." "No! Just... no." "All right, _Grinch_." She walks away, while he stands still, noticing a reindeer's statue is staring at him. He frowns, looking uncomfortable.

_-Motel Room. Broken Bow, Nebraska. (December 24th, 1991)-_

_Reindeer pull Santa's sleigh across the sky on the TV, which is playing "A Year Without Santa Claus". Andrew,8 ½, is wrapping something with newspaper as Averie,12, stands next to the window. "What is that?" he looks up at her smiling, "A present for Dad." "Yeah, right. Where'd you get the money? Steal it?" "No. Uncle De gave it to me to give to him. Said it was real special." "So, what is it?" He looks down at it before responding sarcastically, "A pony." "Very funny." he continues to wrap the present, ripping some of the newspaper as he does. Averie sits on the couch next to him and picks up a magazine, Andrew frowns, "Dad's gonna be here, right?" she nods, "He'll be here." "It's gonna be Christmas." "He knows and he'll be here. Promise." "Where is he anyway?" "On business."_

_"What kind of business?" he asks, moving to sit next to her, "You know what. He sells stuff." "Yeah, but, what kind of stuff?" "Stuff." he looks at the TV, "Nobody ever tells me anything." "Then quit asking." She leaves him on the couch and walks to the bed. She shoves garbage and food-wrappers off of it, re-opening the magazine. He looks over, smiling, "Is Dad a spy?" "Mm-hmm. He's James Bond." "Why do we move around so much?" "'Cause everywhere we go, they get sick of your face." "I'm old enough, Avie. You can tell me the truth." She looks at him, scared, "You don't wanna know the truth. Believe me." "I-Is that why we never talk about... Mom?"she tosses the magazine away angrily and stands up, "Don't you ever talk about Mom. Ever! You don't know what happened!" she heads for the door, he gets up and goes over to her, "Wait, where are you going?" "Out." She shuts the door behind her and leaves him alone, he walks over to the couch and sits on it, starting to tear up._

-Present Day-

Andrew stares at the ground, still lost in memories, Averie leads him around while she talks, "You'd think with the 10 bucks it costs to get into this place, _Santa_ could scrounge up a little snow." he looks up at her, "What?" "Nothing. What are we looking for, again?" "Um...lore says that the anti-Claus will walk with a limp and smell like sweets." She scoffs, "Great. So we're looking for a pimp Santa. Why the sweets?" "Think about it, Av. If you smell like candy, the kids will come closer, you know?" "That's creepy. How does this thing know who's been naughty and who's been nice?" "I don't know." They look over at a man wearing a Santa Claus costume sitting outside a small barn. A woman and boy walk up to him, "So, Ronny, come sit on Santa's knee. You been a good boy this year?" "Yeah." "Good. Santa's got a gift for you. Just go over to the Elf there." Averie turns to Andrew, "Maybe we do know." Ronny's mother takes his arm and leads him away from the Santa, "Come on, honey, let's go."

A woman in an elf costume walks up to Andrew and Averie, "Welcome to Santa's court. Can I escort your child to Santa?" he looks at Averie, "Uh..." she smiles slightly, "No. No. Uh, but actually this one here-" The woman looks at them weird, "Uh, sorry. No kids over... 12." "No, she's just kidding. We only came here to look around." she backs away from them, Averie sighs and Andrew shakes his head "I-I didn't mean that we came here to w— Y—" "Look, Miss, we have a kid on the way and we just wanna see if this would be a fun place to bring them." She nods, still creeped out by them, Averie laughs as she walks away, Andrew sighs, "Thanks a lot." she stops laughing, "Check it out." They watch the Santa leave his chair, he walks with a bad limp. She looks at him, "Are you seeing this?" "A lot of people walk with limps, right?" "Tell me you didn't smell that. That was candy." "That was Ripple. I think. Had to be." "Maybe. We're willing to take that chance?"

~Outside House. Night~

Andrew and Averie sit in the Impala, spying on a simple house that is decorated with Christmas lights. Averie sits up in the back seat, "What time is it?" he sighs, "Same as the last time you asked. Here..." he hands her a thermos, "Caffeinate." She takes the thermos from him and tries to pour coffee into the cup, but the thermos is empty, "Wonderful...Hey, Andrew." "Yeah?" "Why are you the boy that hates Christmas?" "Av..." "I mean, I admit it. You know, we had a few bumpy holidays when we were kids." He turns to face her, "Bumpy?" "But, that was then. We'll do it right this year." "Look, If you want to have Christmas, knock yourself out. Just don't involve me." She scoffs, "Oh, yeah, that'd be great. Me and myself opening gifts".

They go back to watching the house. The Santa from earlier is still in his red cap, but in a green tank top, looks outside, then closes his curtains. Averie looks at him, "What's up with Saint Nicotine?" "Oh, my God!" a woman yells from inside the house, they rush out of the car and to the house with their guns drawn. Andrew looks inside the window of the front door, "Huh." "What?" "Nothing. It's just that, uh... well, you know, Miss. Gung Ho Christmas might have to blow away Santa." She shoves him back and opens the door. The Santa is sitting on the couch, holding a giant bong and a bottle of whiskey. He stands up, they quickly hide their guns. "What the hell are you doing here?" Averie looks around and realizes he's only watching TV. " _I'm really not interested, okay?_ " " _Mistle my toe. Roast my chestnut. Egg my nog._ " she looks at Andrew, who shrugs.

She starts singing, somewhat badly, "S-silent night... Holy..." she looks back at Andrew, "Night. All is calm...all is bright." Andrew continues as Averie forgets the lyrics, "Round yon virgin, mother and child..Holy infant, so tender and mild-" She grabs his arm, "We should go, I have a bad feeling.." he nods, "Sorry for bothering you, sir. Have a nice night. Happy Holidays." The man smiles, going back to watching the TV as they leave.

~House.~

A little boy, Josh, walks down the staircase to a room in which there is a large Christmas tree. Ashes fall into the fireplace from the chimney, he stands in front of the fireplace. "Santa, you're early." he jumps back as the fireplace grill falls in front of him. He stares in shock as a heavy-breathing, human-shaped creature walks through the living room, goes upstairs and enters the parents' room. A woman screams and a man makes muffled sounds, the creature drags a bag containing the struggling man downstairs. There is a loud thump and the sound of flesh tearing as the creature kills the man in front of Josh. It stares down at him, then grabs a cookie from a plate and eats it while he drags the bag up the chimney.

-Hours later, Morning-

Averie stands talking to the woman, she holds a baby in her arms, the little boy is inside with Andrew. "So, that's how your son described the attack? 'Santa took daddy up the chimney'?" she nods, "That's what he says, yes." "And where were you?" "I was asleep and all of a sudden... I was being dragged out of bed, screaming." "Did you see the attacker?" She shakes her head, starting to tear up, "It was dark, and he hit me. He knocked me out." "I'm sorry. I know this is hard." The baby starts fussing, the woman starts bouncing her to calm her, "Shh, Jensyn, shh." Averie sighs, "I'm gonna go inside and see if my partner is still questioning your son." she looks up at her, "Okay."

"Look, Josh, I know you're scared. But, you need to tell me what he looks like so that my sister and I can go find your Dad." Andrew says, Josh looks up at him, "It was Santa, he took Daddy up the chimney. He took him." he looks at him sadly, Averie walks into the room, "When Santa took your Dad, was it cold or smell strange?" He nods, "It smelt like old candy." "Okay, anything else? Maybe it also smelt like something bad?" he shakes his head, looking over at his mother as she carries Jensyn in. Andrew gets up, looking at the wreath hanging above the fireplace, it's the same one as the Walshes. "Um, Mrs. Caldwell, where, where did you get that wreath above the fireplace?" Averie looks at the wreath, and blinks, a little puzzled. "Excuse me?" "J-Just curious, you know."

Andrew and Averie walk outside, she looks at him, "Wreaths, huh? Sure you didn't want to ask her about her shoes? I saw some nice handbags in the foyer." he ignores her sarcasm, "We've seen that wreath before." "Where?" "The Walshes'. Yesterday." She pulls the Impala keys out of her pocket, "I know. I was just testing you." he gives her a look as he gets in the car.

~Motel Room~

Averie sits criss-crossed on the one bed holding a book while Andrew paces around talking to someone on the phone, "Yeah, all right. Well, keep looking, would you? Thanks, Dean." He hangs up, walking over "Well... we're not dealing with the anti-Claus." "What did Dean say?" "Uh, that we're morons. He also said that it was probably meadow sweet in those wreaths." he grabs his laptop, she looks up, "Wow! Amazing. What the hell is meadow sweet?" "It's pretty rare and it's probably the most powerful plant in pagan lore." "Pagan lore?" "Yeah. See, they used meadow sweet for human sacrifice. It was kind of like a... Chum for their gods. Gods were drawn to it and they'd stop by and snack on whatever was the nearest human." She holds her hand out, "Why would somebody be using that for Christmas wreaths?"

"It's not as crazy as it sounds. I mean, pretty much every Christmas tradition is pagan." he says, reading something on the laptop, "Christmas is Jesus's birthday." "No, Jesus's birthday was probably in the fall. It was actually the winter solstice festival that was co-opted by the Church and renamed "Christmas". But I mean, the Yule log, the tree, even Santa's red suit – that's all remnants of pagan worship." "How do you know that? What are you gonna tell me next? That the Easter bunny's Jewish?" he says nothing, "We are dealing with a Pagen God." "Yeah, probably Hold Nickar, God of the winter solstice." "And all these Martha Stewart wannabes, buying these fancy wreaths..." He sighs, "It's pretty much like putting a neon sign on your front door saying 'Come kill us'." "Just great.."

He reads something, "Huh... When you sacrifice to Hold Nickar, guess what he gives you in return." "Lap dances, hopefully." he chuckles, "Mild weather." she motions to the open curtains, "Like no snow in the middle of December in the middle of Michigan." "Yeah. That's a good example." "Do we know how to kill it yet?" "No, Dean's working on that right now. We got to figure out where they're selling those wreaths." She looks at him, "You think they're selling them on purpose? Feeding the victims to this thing?" he gets up, pushing the laptop back, "Let's find out."

~Christmas Shop~

Andrew and Averie walk into the store, they look at the decorations on display. The shopkeeper sees them and smiles, "Can I help you?" Averie chuckles, "Uh, hope so. Uh, we were playing Jenga over at the Walshes' the other night, and, uh... well, he hasn't shut up since about this Christmas wreath, and I don't know," she looks up at Andrew, "You tell him." "Sure. It was beautiful" He looks at them, "I sell a lot of wreaths." he nods, "Right, right, but – but you see, this one would have been really special. It had, uh, it had, uh, green leaves, um, white buds on it. It might have been made of, uh... meadow sweet?" "Well, aren't you a fussy one?" Andrew looks at the floor, embarrassed. Averie smiles, "He is..." he looks at something else as she talks with the shopkeeper, "Anyway, I know the one you're talking about. I'm all out." "Huh. Seems like this meadow sweet stuff's pretty rare and expensive. Why make wreaths out of it?"

"Beats me. I didn't make them." she looks at him confused, "Who did?" "Madge Carrigan, a local lady. She said the wreaths were so special, she gave them to me for free." Andrew looks up, "She didn't charge you?" "Nope." "Did you sell them for free?" "Hell no. It's Christmas. People pay a butt load for this crap." "That's the spirit."

~Motel Room~

Averie opens the door and turns on the light, Andrew follows her in, "How much do you think a meadow sweet wreath would cost?" he shrugs, "A couple hundred dollars, at least." "This lady's giving them away for free? What do you think about that?" "Well, sounds pretty suspicious." She takes off her jacket and sits on the edge of her bed, "Remember that wreath Dad brought home that one year?" "You mean the one he stole from, like, a liquor store?" she smiles, "Yeah, it was a bunch of empty beer cans. That thing was great. I bet if I looked around hard enough, I could probably find one just like it." He sighs, "All right. Av, what's going on with you?" "What?" "I mean, since when are you Bing Crosby all of a sudden? Why do you want Christmas so bad?" "Why are you so against it? I mean, were your childhood memories that traumatic?" "No, that has nothing to do with it.""Then what?"

He looks at her, trying to think of something to say, "I-I mean, I-I just... I don't get it. You haven't talked about Christmas in years." she chuckles, "Well, yeah. This is my last year." "I know. That's why I can't." "What do you mean?" He moves over to his bed, taking something from his bag, "I mean I can't just sit around, drinking eggnog, pretending everything's okay, when I know next Christmas you'll be dead. I just can't." She nods, realizing the sadness in his voice, both of them are silent as he starts reading and she lays down.

_-1991-_

_Andrew lays on the couch reading a comic book. Averie walks into the room, holding a bag of food. He goes over to help her, "Thought you went out." she puts the bag on the small coffee table, "Yeah, to get you dinner." She takes out a frozen meal and hands it to him, he starts walking over to the microwave, "Hey. Don't forget your vegetables." she throws him a bag of Funyuns. Averie takes off her jacket, sits down on the one bed and opens a soda can. Andrew walks over, sitting on the other bed, "I know why you keep a gun under our pillow." she lifts the pillow, seeing her gun under it, "No, you don't. Stay out of my stuff." "And I know why we lay salt down everywhere we go." "No, you don't. Shut up." He turns around and grabs something under the bed. It's Ethan's diary. He tosses it onto the nightstand between the beds._

_She looks at it and gets up, "Where'd you get that? That's Dad's! He's gonna kick your ass for reading that." "Are monsters real?" "What? You're crazy." "Tell me." He looks up at her as she hesitates, "I swear, if you ever tell Dad I told you any of this, I will end you." "Promise." she glances at the journal as she kneels in front of him, "Well, the first thing you have to know is we have the coolest dad in the world. He's a superhero." "He is?" "Yeah. Monsters are real. Dad fights them. He's fighting them right now." "But Dad said the monsters under my bed weren't real." "That's 'cause he had already checked under there. But yeah, they're real. Almost everything's real." He smiles slightly, "Is Santa real?" she sighs, "No." "If monsters are real, then they could get us. They could get me." She frowns as he starts tearing up, "Dad's not gonna let them get you."_

_"But what if they get him?" "They aren't gonna get Dad. Dad's, like, the best." he looks at her, "I-I read in Dad's book that they got Mom." "It's very complicated, Andrew." "If they got Mom, they can get Dad ,and if they get Dad, they can get us!" "It's not like that." Averie moves and sits next to Andrew, putting an arm around him, "Okay? Dad's fine. We're fine. Trust me. You feel okay?" "Yeah." he looks over at the door, she knows what he's thinking, "Dad's gonna be here for Christmas. Just like he always is." He pushes her arm off, going to their bed, "I just want to go to sleep, okay?" she nods, "Yeah, okay." he lies down and cries, mumbling things. Averie stays sitting on the edge of Ethan's bed, "It'll all be better when you wake up. You'll see. I promise."_

~The Carrigan's House. Present Day. Sunset~

The siblings walk up to a big white house with Christmas decorations on the lawn. Averie chuckles, "This is where Mrs. Wreath lives, huh? Can't you just feel the evil pagan vibe?" she knocks on the door and Madge greets them, "Yes?" "Please tell me you're the Madge Carrigan who makes the meadow sweet wreaths." "Why, yes I am." She looks at Andrew smiling, "Told ya we would find her." he shakes his head, smiling "Yeah? Uh, well, we were just admiring your wreaths in Mr. Sylar's place the other day." "You were? Well, isn't that meadow sweet just the finest-smelling thing you ever smelled?" "It is, it sure is. But the problem is that all your wreaths had sold out before we got the chance to buy one." "Oh, fudge!" Averie looks at her, "You wouldn't have another one that we could buy from you, would you?"

Madge frowns, "Oh, no, I'm afraid those were the only ones I had for this season." she nods, "Can you tell me something, why did you decide to make them out of meadow sweet?" Edward Carrigan comes down the staircase inside the house. He has an old-fashioned pipe and a cardigan. The two of them together are very 1950s, "Why, the smell, of course! I don't think I've ever smelled anything finer." Andrew looks away, muttering, "Yeah... um, you mentioned that." Edward stands next to Madge, "What's going on, honey?" "Well, just some nice kids asking about my wreaths, dear." "Oh, the wreaths are beautiful, fine wreaths. Oh, care for some peanut brittle?" he grabs a small container from the stand behind him, Averie reaches and takes some, "You can take the whole container if you like." she looks up at Andrew, holding it out to him, he shakes his head, "I'm okay."

~Motel Room. Night~

Averie sits on the bed still eating the brittle and sharpening a wooden stake, while Andrew is on his laptop. Five other wooden stakes are on the bed and floor near Averie, along with wood shaving going everywhere besides the bin she has in front of her. "I knew it! Something was way off with those two." he says, she looks over, "What'd you find?" "The Carrigans lived in Seattle, last year, where two abductions took place right around Christmas. They moved here in January. All that Christmas crap in their house – that wasn't boughs of holly. It was vervain and mint." "Pagan stuff?" "Serious pagan stuff." "So what, Ozzie and Harriet are keeping a pagan god hidden underneath their plastic-covered couch?" He sighs, "I don't know. All I know is we gotta check them out. So, what about Dean? He's sure evergreen stakes will kill this thing, right?" "Yeah, he's sure."

~The Carrigans' House~

Andrew and Averie walk toward the house, Averie picks the lock and they go in, each hold a wooden stake. She looks at the couch that is still covered with plastic, "See? Plastic." he touches it too as she shakes her head disapprovingly. Averie goes into the living room and looks at all the Christmas decor, while he goes to the hall, which is also decorated with ornaments and snow globes. They go into the kitchen and see plates of cookies and cakes, he shines his flashlight on the lock of a door, "Hey, Av." They walk downstairs to the basement, Averie points her flashlight and finds bones covered with blood in a large bowl. They look at the room and realize the whole place looks like a butchery room rather than a storage room. Andrew finds a leather bag covered with blood. He looks disgusted and moves to another spot, he pokes a bag that is hanging from the wall and the bag moves – someone inside is struggling.

Madge grabs his neck from behind and lifts him off the ground as he yells in surprise, Averie hears him and comes running. "Andrew!" Madge pushes him against a wall and holds him by the throat. Averie runs to him and tries to stake Madge, but Edward grabs her arm and knocks her head against a wall. She falls to the ground, unconscious. Madge looks at her husband, who smiles and nods and looks back at Andrew, who is struggling to breathe. "Gosh, I wish you hadn't come down here. He moves his flashlight to the Carrigans' faces, which appear monster-like when in the beam of the flashlight but turn back to normal out of the light. Madge slams his head hard against the wall and lets him drop to the ground.

-

A number of bowls and a knife are set out on the kitchen table. Andrew and Averie are tied up in chairs, back to back. "Av? You okay?" he asks, trying to look at her, "I think so." "I guess we're dealing with Mr. and Mrs. God. Nice to know." She scoffs, "Yeah." The Carrigans walk into the kitchen, dressed in colorful Christmas- themed sweaters, "Ooh, and here we thought you two lazybones were gonna sleep straight through all the fun stuff." Madge says, giggling, Averie watches her as she moves in front of her, "Miss all this? Nah, we're partiers." Edward chuckles, "Isn't she a kick in the pants, honey? You're hunters, is what you are." "And you're pagan gods. So, why don't we just call it even, and go our separate ways?" "What, so you can bring more hunters and kill us? I don't think so."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you went snacking on humans, now, huh?" Andrew says, turning his head slightly to look at him, "Oh now, don't get all wet." Madge sighs, "We used to take over a hundred tributes a year and that's a fact." she puts a napkin on Averie's lap, "Now what do we take? What, two? Three?" she asks Edward as she puts a napkin on Andrew's lap, "These two make it five." "Now, that's not so bad, is it?" Averie rolls her eyes, "Well, you say it like that – I guess you guys are the Cunninghams." He moves in front of her, "You, ma'am, better show us a little respect." "Or what? You'll eat us?" "Not so fast. There's rituals to be followed first." Madge smiles, "Oh, we're just sticklers for ritual. And you know what kicks off the whole shebang?"

Averie sighs, "Let me guess... meadow sweet." "Oh, you got it right!" "Oh shucks, you're all out of wreaths. I guess we'll just have to cancel the sacrifice, huh?" "Oh, don't be such a gloomy Gus." She puts wreaths around the Walkers' necks, "There. Ohh... Don't they just look darling?" "Almost good enough to eat." he pulls out a knife, "Alrighty-roo. Step number two." He walks to Andrew carrying the knife and a bowl. He holds the bowl under Andrew's arm and prepares to cut him with the knife, "No, no, no. Please, don't-" Averie tries looking at him, "Andy?! Andy?!" Edward slices Andrew's arm and collects his blood in the bowl as he screams out, "Leave him alone, you son of a bitch!" she yells, Edward looks at Madge, "Hear how they talk to us? To Gods? Listen, pal, back in the day, we were worshiped by millions." "Time has changed!"

"Tell me about it. All of a sudden, this Jesus character is the hot new thing in town. All of a sudden, our – our altars are being burned down, and we're being hunted down like common monsters." Madge takes the bowl and knife from Edward, adding something to the blood "But did we say a peep? Oh ho ho, no, no, no, we did not. Two millennia. We kept a low profile; we got jobs, a mortgage. Wh-What was that word, dear?" Edward picks up a tool, smiling, "We assimilated." "Yeah, we assimilated. Why, we play bridge on Tuesday and Fridays. We're just like everybody else." Averie struggles in her binds, trying to get out, "You're not blending in as smooth as you think, lady." she ignores her, "This might pinch a bit, dear." she slices Averie's arm just like Edward did to Andrew.

"You bitch!" Averie screams, trying to pull her arm away, "Oh, my goodness me! Somebody owes a nickel to the swear jar. Oh, do you know what I say when I feel like swearing? Fudge." she looks down at her arm, "I'll try and remember that.." Edward picks up a pair of pliers, "You two have no idea how lucky you are. There was a time when kids came from miles around, just to be sitting where you are." he stands in front of Andrew, "W-What do you think you're doing with those?" Averie looks at Madge as she tightens the bonds on her wrists, "You fudging touch me again and I'll fudging kill you!" She slices Averie's other arm and she groans in pain, while Edward grabs Andrew's hand, "Don't. No-" he pulls the nail out of his index finger and Andrew screams in pain, Edward holds up the nail, "Oh, we got a winner!"

The Carrigans put all the ingredients in the bowl and stir them, "What else, dear?" Madge asks, Edward thinks, "Well, let's see. Uh, fingernail, blood. Oh sweet Peter on a popsicle stick.. I forgot the tooth." "Oh!" Averie breathes heavily, "Merry Christmas, Andrew." he groans in response, Edward picks up the pliers and grabs Averie's chin. "Open wide... and say Ahh." he puts the pliers into her mouth and she groans. The doorbell rings, she looks at him, "Somebody gonna get that? You should get that." Edward backs away, putting the pliers down, "Come on, honey." Averie moves her tongue around her mouth, relieved that she still has all her teeth.

Madge and Edward open the front door, a neighbor wearing a green reindeer sweater rings a bell and holds out a fruitcake. "Merry Christmas!" she holds out the fruitcake for them, Edward smiles, "I told you I smelled fruitcake!" Madge smiles, "You shouldn't have." "Oh, bite your tongue, it's my pleasure." Edward takes the fruitcake from her, "It looks scrumptious!" She looks at them, happily, "Say, Neal and I are going caroling. You care to join?" Madge frowns, "You know we would—" Edward looks at his wife, "It's my back. Darn thing's giving me fits." Their neighbor nods, "Oh, well, that's a shame. Merry Christmas." "And to you too, dear." she goes to leave, but turns back, "Hey, are we still on for bridge Thursday?" "With bells on!" "Yes! Okay, bye!" "Bye-bye now." They smile broad fake smiles, when the neighbor is gone, Edward drops the fruitcake and steps on it on the way back to the kitchen.

They open the door to the kitchen and hurry inside, Madge smiles, "Now, where were we?" Andrew and Averie are no longer in their chairs. The Carrigans see one of the doors close, and turn around to see the other door close too. The Walkers are each standing behind one of the doors, as they try to open them. Averie pulls out a drawer to hold her door closed and goes to help Andrew, she looks up at him, "What do we do now? The evergreen stakes are in the basement!" "Well, we need more evergreen!" he looks over at the Christmas tree, "I think I just found us some more." Averie follows his gaze, she motions to a cabinet between the doors, "Help me get this." They move the cabinet in front of the door, struggling to keep the door shut as they do. They push the Christmas tree over and break branches from the tree to use as stakes.

All is silent when they approach the kitchen door, suddenly Edward tackles Averie to the ground. Madge walks up to Andrew, "You little thing." her face momentarily distorts, "I loved that tree." he raises his branch. She hits him hard and he crashes into the couch, knocking it onto the floor, Edward punches Averie a number of times in the face. Madge walks closer to Andrew and he hits her with the branch, she goes to attack him, he takes the moment to stab her with the Christmas tree branch. Edward looks over and sees her drop, "Madge!" Andrew pushes the stake deeper and she groans, Averie takes the opportunity and hits Edward with her branch. Andrew continues to push the stake in further, Madge starts bleeding from her mouth and eyes before falling to the ground, dead.

Averie stabs Edward, who screams in pain, and Averie pulls it out and stabs him again. After a few minutes, he lies dead, next to his wife. Andrew breathes heavily, Averie sighs in relief, they stare at the dead bodies. He looks up at her, "Merry Christmas, Av." she chuckles, "This is one hell of a Christmas.."

- _Christmas Day. 1991_ -

_Averie looks outside at the snow, she waits a few minutes before rushing over to Andrew and shaking him awake, "Andrew, wake up! Dad was here. Look what he brought." He sits up, looking around at a little Christmas tree, decorated with a few lights. "Dad was here?" "Yeah. Look at this. We made a killing." he yawns, "Why didn't he try to wake me up?" "He tried to, like a thousand times." "He did?" "Yeah. Did I tell you he would give us Christmas, or what? Go on, open them." Andrew jumps out of the bed and hurries to the Christmas tree. He finds two presents wrapped with Christmas- themed gift wrap. He sits on the couch and unwraps his first gift, she sits on the other end of the couch and watches, smiling slightly "What is it?" "A book, of something.."_

_She looks down, feeling bad, "Maybe he thinks you like reading." he shrugs, "Open the other one." he opens the other present and finds a cheer leading stick. He looks at her, she chuckles softly, "He probably thinks you're a girl." he frowns, "Dad never showed, did he?" "Yeah, he did, I swear." "Avie... Where'd you get all this stuff?" Averie realizes she can't lie anymore and looks embarrassed, "Nice house up the block. I swear I didn't know they were weird presents." He nods sadly, she looks at him, "Look, I'm sure Dad would have been here if he could." "If he's alive." "Don't say that. Of course he's alive. He's Dad." Andrew turns, taking the present he wrapped from the pocket of his jacket that is lying over the arm of the couch. He holds it out to Averie, "Here, take this." she shakes her head, "No. No, that's for Dad." "Dad lied to me. I want you to have it."_

_He continues to hold out the gift, she looks at it and at him. "You sure?" he smiles, "I'm sure." She looks at the gift again and takes it, unwrapping the gift, which is a gold amulet on a black string. "Thank you, Andy. I love it." she puts the necklace on and touches the amulet, "You're welcome." She stands up, grabbing her jacket, "How about we go to the diner across the street? They are doing free meals tonight." he gets up, "Yeah, but I think you're only hoping for a slice of pie." she jokingly scoffs, "You think I only care about pie?" He shrugs while giggling, she softly hits him in the back of the head, "Get your jacket and come on."_

-Motel Room. Present Day-

Andrew looks at the floor, smiling softly, Ella Fitzgerald's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" plays on the radio as Averie walks into the room, she still has on the necklace he gave her back in 1991. She looks at the room surprised, Andrew has decorated the room with a Christmas tree and "Merry Christmas" sign. Andrew chuckles, holding a small cup of eggnog "Hey Av, you get the beer?" she smiles, "What's all this?" she touches the tree and lights on it, he watches as she looks around, "What do you think it is? It's – it's Christmas." "What made you change your mind?" He doesn't answer, he hands her the cup of eggnog instead, "Here, uh ... try the eggnog. Let me know if it needs some more kick." She sips it, coughs, and looks surprised at the taste, "No, we're good."

He smiles, "Yeah?" she nods, "Yeah." When Andrew looks away, Averie changes her expression, like the eggnog tastes toxic, "Good. Well, uh, have a seat. Let's do... Christmas stuff, or whatever." he says. She looks back at the Christmas tree, which is decorated with lights and car air fresheners, "All right, first things first.." Andrew sits on the couch and Averie pulls up a chair. She takes two packages wrapped in brown paper from a plastic bag and holds them out to him, "Merry Christmas, Andy." he looks at the gifts as he takes them, "Where'd you get these?" "Someplace special." he raises an eyebrow, she chuckles, "The gas mart down the street, Open them up." He laughs as he sets them down, "Well, great minds think alike, Av." he reaches under the couch for two packages wrapped in newspaper, which he gives to her.

She looks at the packages, shocked and happy, "Really?" he smiles, "There you go." "Come on. You first." Andrew opens his first gift, which is two porn magazines, he lets out a loud laugh, "Skin mags?" Averie nods, laughing as well, he starts opening the other one, "and...Shaving cream." she looks up, "You like?" he chuckles, smiling, "Yeah. Yeah, I do." Averie looks at her presents, she unwraps them, smiling, it's a small box of her favorite candies and a bottle of oil. "Fuel for me and fuel for Baby." he nods, she sets the oil down "These are awesome. Thanks." "I'm glad they are." There is suddenly a little sadness in his smile, she holds up her glass, "Here's to Hunter Christmases." he nods, clinking his glass off of hers "Merry Christmas, Av."

They are silent, knowing that this could be their last Christmas together. Averie takes a sip of her drink, immediately coughing after, Andrew looks over, "Hey, Av. I got food from the place down the street, do you feel like staying in and watching the game?" She nods, "Yeah, that sounds good." he gets up and turns on the TV, grabbing a bag of food with a pie sitting in it's own box on top. They watch the winter football game as they eat, Averie looks over at the window and sees that it is snowing, she looks back at the TV playing commercials as Andrew starts rambling on about something he read earlier


	9. Malleus Maleficarum

~Bedroom. Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Night~

The door opens, and a woman and man dressed in formal attire walk in (Janet and Michael Sutton) Michael switches on the bedroom light as Janet tosses her purse on the bed. "That was just a terrible, terrible party." she says, "But there was this one really beautiful woman there." "You should have gone home with her." he smiles, "I did." They kiss, and he unzips her dress, she backs away as it falls to the ground, "I need a few minutes." "Alright, there's a bottle of '89 in the fridge." They kiss again, he walks out the door as she crosses the room and enters the bathroom.

~Empty Bedroom~

A woman strikes a match on the side of the box, lighting a candle, "Echranmuk madan fiéré, fiahohshee shé morelorn. Marc o don." She has an altar in front of her with various occult objects, including the candle she lit, and bones and symbols drawn on wood. "Duer kianave kihér tolic. Einder bolic.'' She opens a cloth on top of the symbol revealing a used toothbrush inside the cloth. "Madan fiéré fiahohshee shé morelorn. Marc oh don duer kianave kihér tolic." Ava reaches for a dagger and drags it along her right palm dripping a drop of blood on the bristles of the toothbrush that she has unwrapped on the altar. "Echranmuk madan fiéré fiahohshee shé morelorn"

~Janet's Bathroom~

Janet takes off her necklace, opening a new toothbrush brush, she reaches for her mouth, and wiggles one of her front teeth which comes loose, and falls out in her hand. _Marc oh don duer kianave kihér tolic einder bolic_ "Oh god." she mutters, _Madan fiéré_ Janet turns slowly, feeling around the inside of her mouth with her tongue. _Fiahohshee shé morelorn. Marc oh don_ Janet reaches inside her mouth and removes another tooth. _Duer kianave kihér tolic einder bolic_ "What the hell?" She puts both teeth in one hand as the words stop momentarily, "Paul, come here!" _Fiahohshee shé morelorn_ Paul runs into the bedroom as the words pause again, "What is it?" "It's my teeth." As he sees her he rushes forward, but the bathroom door slams shut and the deadbolt locks into place. Paul pounds on the door, "Janet!" "Help me!"

 _Duer kianave_ Paul keeps banging on the door, and Janet has blood dripping down her chin as she chokes and turns to bend over the sink spitting out a tooth and blood. She then spits out another tooth, _Kihér tolic. Echran_ Janet more blood and teeth into the sink, crying out in pain. _Muk madan_. _Fiéré fiah Janet_ turns away from the sink, holding her hand in front of her mouth, still coughing up blood, she starts to lose consciousness, _Ohshee_ Paul starts to bangs on the door again, it shakes but does not unlock _Einder bolic._ Paul backs up from the bathroom door and goes to kick it down as the deadbolt turns and the door swings slowly open. He stares in horror as the door swings open more, revealing Janet lying on the floor with blood surrounding her mouth motionless.

-The Next Morning-

Averie questions Paul about Janet as Andrew is searching the bathroom for clues as to what happened. "She was so scared. I couldn't help; I couldn't do anything to stop it. And I've talked to the police, and I've talked to the medical examiner and no one can explain it." she nods, "Well, that's why they put the call in to us Mr. Dutton." "But the CDC, that's disease control, right? What do you think; it's some kind of virus?" Andrew closes the door to the bathroom and looks more thoroughly through things, listening to Paul and Averie as he does, "We're not ruling out anything yet. Mr. Dutton did Janet have any enemies?" "I'm sorry?" "Anyone that might have a reason to hurt her?" "Wait, what are you saying? That somebody poisoned her?" He looks under the sink in the bathroom and finds something.

He opens the door again, acting like he never closed it, she looks at Paul, "I'm just saying we have to cover every base here." "Well, I mean, what kind of poison? You think a person could have done this?" "Would anyone want to?" "What?! No, no, there's just no one that could've—" "Mr. Dutton." "Uh, everyone loved Janet." Andrew nods at Averie so she knows that he is done investigating. "Okay. Thank you very much; I think we've got everything we need. We'll get out of your way now."

It's raining as they walk out of the house toward the Impala. Averie turns to Andrew, "That dude seem a little evasive to you?" he sighs, "I don't know I was under a sink, pulling this out." he takes a hex bag out of his pocket and hands it to her and they both stop as she takes the bag from him and opens it. "Hex bag." "Gross." "Yeah, there are bird bones, rabbit's teeth. This cloth is probably cut from something Janet Dutton owned." Averie looks back at the house for a second and turns back handing the bag to him and walking towards the Impala again. "So we're thinking witch?" "Uh, yeah, and not some new age wicked water douser either. This is Old World black magic Av, I mean, warts and all."

She gets in the driver's side, "I hate witches." he chuckles as he gets in, she cringes, "They're always spewing their bodily fluids everywhere." "Pretty much." "It's creepy, you know, it's down right unsanitary." "Yeah, well someone definitely had it out for Janet Dutton." "Someone who snuck into that house and planted the bag. So what are we thinking, we're uh, looking for some old craggy Blair bitch in the woods." He sighs, "No it could be anyone. Neighbor, coworker, man, woman—that's the problem, they're human, they're like everyone else." "Great. How do we find 'em?" "This wasn't random; someone in Janet's life had an ugly axe to grind. We find the motive—" She looks over, "We find the murderer." "Yeah." she starts the Impala, pulling away from the cirb.

~Ava's House~

Samira is tending to her garden as Ava pulls into her driveway and gets out of the car. She looks up and tries to get Ava's attention, "Ava." she notices that Ava is clearly distracted as she grabs a grocery bag out of the back seat of her car and starts to walk to her door. Ava has a bandage on her right hand, signifying she is the witch Janet heard reciting the incantation and who cut her hand with the dagger. Samira walks over, "Hey Ava!" "Oh, Sam. hi. Sorry, I've got like a thousand things on my mind." She keeps walking toward the door to her house. "Are you okay sweetie? You didn't come to the book club last night." "Yeah, sorry I was gonna call, I just—I got busy, you know? But I'm fine, really, I am." she hurries into her house, waving her hand behind her at Samira.

Ava walks into the kitchen and sets down the grocery bag on the counter and goes to the oven, opening the door and reaches in to take out a platter with food on it. A buzzing starts in the background and as she sets the platter on the counter, the food can be seen to be rotten. Ava continues to look at the platter as the buzzing intensifies and the food has flies, maggots and worms crawling all over it. In Ava's living room there are various occult objects, including a candle, bones and symbols drawn on wood, the same as before. Now she places the platter of rotten food where Janet's toothbrush was and lifts the same dagger she sliced her hand with previously and looks at it, she places a watch on the platter with the rotten food and stabs it.

~Street. Night~

Paul sits in his car pulled over on the side of the street and reaches over and turns on the radio. Every Rose Has its Thorn by Poison starts to play on the radio as he begins to eat a burger, he takes a bite of the burger. He puts down the burger and goes to check his watch, but his wrist is bare and he looks confused. _Echranmuk madan fiéré marc o don. Duer kianave kihér tolic einder bolic marc oh don duer kianave. This dinner was cooked for you Paul Arthur Dutton. Now you're going to eat it._ The radio goes static and the song changes to 'I Put a Spell on You' by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Paul lays down his burger on the passenger seat of his car and maggots fall out onto the wrapper.

He reaches and turns off the radio, picking up his burger again he takes another bite and begins to chew but makes a face and goes to reach in his mouth, lifting his burger and looking down at it. He sees it is covered in maggots, "Oh my god!" He throws down the burger as 'I Put a Spell on You' comes back on the radio and he leans forward starting to choke. He opens the door of his car, falling out onto the pavement hunched over as Averie and Andrew arrive in the Impala. Averie runs over to Paul, "Check the car!" Andrew searches under the dashboard and steering column as Averie tries to help Paul. "Andrew-" "Got it!" He gets up removing the hex bag he found as she pulls Paul up from the pavement, "Come on." He lights the hex bag on fire and drops it to the ground as it glows with blue and green flames.

Paul recovers from choking and leans back against his car, Averie puts an arm on his shoulder, "You okay?" "What the hell is happening to me?!" "Someone murdered your wife and now they're trying to kill you, that's what's happening to you." "That's impossible! There's no way—" "If we hadn't been following you, you'd be a doornail right now. Now who wants you dead?" "I-uh..." she looks at him, upset, "Come on think." "There's a woman—uh—" "A woman, okay?" He looks at her confused, "An affair—a mistake, she was unbalanced, she was blackmailing me and I put an end to it a week ago." "What's her name?" "Wha–What could she have to do with—?" "Paul! What is her name?"

~Ava's House~

The platter burst into flames, most likely from Andrew burning the hex bag. Ava frantically flips through the pages of a book with occult symbols on it and foreign language written around the symbols. A wind blows through her house blowing out the candles on her altar, she stares at them warily, then suddenly screams and holds out her left arm where one cut has already been sliced in her wrist vertically. Two more slice down next to that cut with no visible assailant and blood begins to pour out of the wounds, "No! No...no!" Three cuts slice into her right wrist vertically, matching those on her left wrist and blood pours out of them despite Ava's screams in protest. She falls forward, pushing the altar off the table and lands face down on her glass coffee table, blood from her cut wrists pooling around her arms, her eyes shut.

Minutes later, Averie picks the lock to the house, followed closely by Andrew, their guns drawn. They enter the room and find Ava lifeless on the table covered in blood and switch on the light, the flames are still burning, "That's a curveball." she mutters, Andrew sighs, "Yeah." They approach Ava's body, Averie lifts her right arm with the barrel of her gun then looks at the other as well. "Three per wrist, vertical. She wasn't foolin' around." Andrew puts his gun in the back of his jeans and bends down to look at the scattered remnant of the altar holding his nose to the smell of the burnt rotten food. "Yeah, looks like she was working some heavyweight evil here." "Yep."

Averie turns around, then jumps back, startled – she nearly walked into a rabbit, hanging from the ceiling, dead. "Oh god! Freakin' witches! Seriously man, come on!" "Guess we know where she got the rabbit's teeth from." "Well, Paul sure knows how to pick 'em huh? It's like Fatal Attraction all over again." He walks over, "Yeah.." "And why does the rabbit always get screwed in the deal?! The poor little guy." "You know what I don't get, Av? If she was so bent on revenge, why do this?" "Well, she got Janet, thought she finished off Paul, decided to cap herself and make it a spurned lover's hat-trick." "Maybe." He starts to look under the glass table that Ava is on, Averie looks around at the room, "I mean, this doesn't exactly look like the TV room of a bright and stable person, you know?" "No, but then..." he reaches around and pulls out another hex bag that is tucked under the table and stands up tossing it to her, "There's this."

"Another hex bag? Come on!" she opens the bag to find similar contents of the bag they found in Janet's bathroom and she tosses it on the table reaching for her phone. "Looks like we got a hit, huh? A little witch-on-witch violence?" he shrugs, "I guess." Averie dials the phone and holds it up to her ear, "I'd like to report a dead body, 309 Mayfair Circle. My name? Yeah, sure my name is—" she clicks the phone shut, cutting herself off. "Why are witches ganking each other?" "I don't know, but I think maybe we got a coven on our hands."

~Flora Van-Allen's House~

Ron Van-Allen stands in the doorway to the room that Flora and Lindsy are in, "Alright, alright. I'm going. I'm not fooled by your little book club by the way. I know what you ladies get up to when I'm gone. It's all dish and gossip." The women laugh as Samira walks in and joins Ron in the doorway, "Hi Ron." "Oh, hello Sam." he looks back at the other two, "I mean, when's the last time anyone actually brought a book?" "Goodnight Ron." they say at the same time, he chuckles, "Alright." he leaves and as soon as the door closes behind him Samir goes into the room seemingly upset, "He doesn't know? You didn't tell him?" Flora looks at her, "About Ava? Oh, I think that's book club business, don't you?" Lindsy gets a candle holder with three tapers in it and sets it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Thank you Linds." she throws her hands down, "The police just took away her body, and what? We're just gonna pretend it didn't happen?" "We loved Ava." Lindsy nods, "It's true." "We know that she was a little... unstable." "Also true." "And we have to face it, she probably killed Janet Dutton." "People just don't spit out their teeth all of a sudden." Flora nods her head in agreement with Lindsy, Samira starts panicking, "We have to stop. We have to stop Book Club. This has all gone too far." Flora gets up from the sofa, "Samira, just take a deep breath. Calm down. We can't... stop." "But people are dying!" "Ava killed herself, yes. And yes, she killed Janet. Awful, awful business of course, but that's all over now. And think about what Book Club has gotten us hmm? Your husband's promotion, that little trip to Hawaii that you won. And what about me? My home pottery business is finally taking off and you wanna just stop? Do you wanna stop?"

Samira shakes her head 'no' and Flora claps her hands together, "'kay, now come on, we don't have much time, Ron gets back from his Fantasy Football in an hour." The three of them start getting ready for 'Book Club' which is their witches coven meeting by putting a cloth with a demonic symbol on it down on the table, putting the 'Book of Shadows' in the middle of it, and lighting the candles in the candle holder, "Book of Shadows we kneel before you, let us serve your master as you serve us. Book of Shadows we kneel before you, let us serve your master."

~Samira's Home. Morning~

Samira turns the soil of her garden with a small trowel when Averie and Andrew walk up her driveway to question her. "You must have a green thumb." he says, looking at the plants, Samira turns to look at him, "Excuse me?" "Getting these herbs to grow out of season like this, quite impressive. I'm sorry; I should have introduced myself first." he reaches on the pocket of his suit jacket and takes out a badge. "I'm uh, Detective Bachman, this is Detective Turner." Averie takes her own badge out of her jacket pocket and flashes it at Samira, "We're following up on Ava Burns' death, going around the neighborhood and talking to neighbors and stuff like that." "But didn't she— I mean she killed herself right?" "Maybe, maybe not." Averie glances at Andrew, "We heard you were friends with the deceased right?" "Yeah, I guess so."

"Did you have any idea about her practices?" "I'm sorry, what kind of practices?" "Well see, her house was littered with Satanic paraphernalia. A regular Black Sabbath." Samira looks at Averie, somewhat scared, "No, the— but she was an Episcopalian." "Well, then we're pretty sure she was using the wrong Bible." Flora and Lindsy walk up unseen, Flora speaks causing the Walkers to turn and take notice of their arrival. "Samira, you all right?" "I'm fine uh Flora, these are detectives. They say Ava was— she was practicing—" "I'm sorry detectives; you can tell that Samira is a little bit upset." Averie nods, "Of course, Miss...?" "Mrs. Flora Van Allen." she says it slowly and emphatically, like it's significant and she's important as the looks Averie up and down, disgusted, "Would you like me to spell it for you?" "I'll get by, thanks." Lindsy frowns, "This Ava business has been hard for Sam. For all of us. I mean, you think you know a person." Andrew nods, "I guess we all have secrets..We'll be in touch." Averie gives a fake smile, "Have a nice day."

~Road. Sunset~

Averie is driving as Andrew is in the passenger's seat, reading something. "I'm already sold on that Samira chick. Did you see that victory garden of hers? Belladonna, wolfsbane, mandrake, not to mention that little flinch she threw when we mentioned the occult." he shrugs, "Well, she's definitely had a good run lately, gone up a few tax brackets; won almost too many raffles. Kinda thing a little black magic always helps with." "Yeah." "I don't think she's alone either. Looks like 'Mrs. Flora Van Allen' has won almost every craft contest she has entered in the past three months." "She's a regular Martha Stewart, huh? Except for the devil worship, I'm thinking that was the coven we met back there, minus one member." "Ava was clearly going off the reservation. What do you think, they killed her to keep up appearances?"

"Seems like an appearance kind of crowd, don't you think?" Averie asks, Andrew nods, "Yeah." "If they killed the nut-job, should we uh, thank them or what?" "They're working black magic too, Av. They need to be stopped." "'Stopped' like stopped?" He gives her a look that says 'of course', "They're human, Andrew." "They're murderers." she looks at him for a second with surprise and then nods in agreement, "Burn witch, burn." The Impala starts to sputter and get clogged up, "What the hell?" The headlights flicker off and then back on again as it slowly comes to a stop in front of a figure standing in the middle of the road. Andrew gets out of the car first and Averie follows, "Jade?" "Andrew, listen to me, there's no time." "For what? What are you talking about?" "You have to get out of town." Averie looks her up and down, "So this is Jade, huh?"

She raises the Colt and aims it at her, cocking it, "Never had the pleasure." "Averie!" he yells, she ignores him. "I was hoping you'd show up again." Jade looks at her frightened, "Point that thing somewhere else." "Right, so you can manipulate him?" She looks back at him for a second, "Andrew, please. Go. Get in the car and don't look back." "Why? I don't understand." Averie keeps the colt raised and moves in front of Andrew, "Hey, hot stuff, my brother and I can take care of a few kitchen witches, thanks." "I'm not talking about witches, you jackass. Witches are whores. I'm talking about who they serve."

Both of the Walkers look confused for a second, but then it dawns on Andrew, "Demons. They get their power from demons." "Yeah. And there's one here, now." Averie scoffs, "Oh, what, you mean besides you?" Jade starts moving to Andrew "It knows you're in town and it's gonna come after you and it's way more than you can handle." "Oh come on, what is this, huh? Please tell me you're not listening to this crap!" "Put a leash on your sister, Andrew, if you wanna keep her." He looks at her, "Av, look, just chill out." "No! No! She's messing with your head, God knows why, that's who they are!" Jade sighs, "I'm telling you the truth." "And I'm telling you to shut up, bitch." "I'm sorry, but, why are you even a part of this conversation?!" "Oh, I don't know maybe because he's my brother, you black-eyed skank!"

She chuckles, "Oh, right, right. You care about your brother so much. That's why you're checking out in a few months, leaving him all alone?" "Shut up." "At least let me try and save him, since you won't be here to do it anymore." "I said shut up!" Averie moves to fire the Colt at her, "Averie, no!" Andrew pushes Averie's arm away from Jade as she fires the Colt, and she tries to fight against his hold, they lock arms as the Colt falls, both look to where Jade was standing to see that she has vanished. She gives him a look of disappointment and goes back to get in the Impala as he looks around for Jade.

~Motel Room~

Averie walks in first and switches on the light and Andrew follows right behind her. "What the hell were you thinking?" "What?! What the hell was _I_ thinking?" "She's a _demon_ , Andrew. Period. All right? They want us dead, we want them dead." "Oh, that's funny; I remember that demon chick in Ohio? Casey? You didn't want her dead." "Yeah, well she wasn't stringing me along like a fish on a hook." "No one's stringing me along! Look, I know it's dangerous, that she is dangerous, but like it or not, she's useful." "No! We kill her before she kills us." "Kill her with what? The gun she fixed for us?" "Whatever works." "If she wants us dead, all she has to do is stop saving our lives." She turns away from him and goes to the sink turning on the water, he follows her, "Look, we have to start looking at the big picture Av, start thinking in strategies and – and move ahead. It's not so simple, we're not – we're not just hunting anymore. We're at war."

Averie splashes some water on her face, turns off the water and looks at Andrew in the mirror above the sink, she grabs a towel to dry off her face, "Are you feeling okay?" "Why are you always asking me that?" he sits on the foot of one of the beds in the room, and she starts walking over. "Because you're taking advice from a demon, for starters. And by the way, you seem less and less worried about offing people. You know, it used to eat you up inside." "Yeah, and what has that gotten me?" "Nothing, but it's just what you're supposed to do, okay? We're supposed to drive in the freakin' car and freakin' argue about this stuff. You know, you go on about the sanctity of life and all that crap." "Wait, so – so you're mad because I'm starting to agree with you?" "No, I'm not mad, I'm— I'm— I'm worried, Andrew." she sits down on the foot of the other bed across from him, "I'm worried because you're not acting like yourself."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not. I don't have a choice." he says, looking at the ground, "What is that supposed to mean?" "You're leaving – right? And I gotta stay here in this craphole of a world. Alone. So the way I see it, if I'm gonna make it, if I'm gonna fight this war after you're gone, then I gotta change." She starts looking increasingly uncomfortable during hus last speech, and is now clutching her stomach in discomfort and leaning forward slightly, "Change into what?" "Into you. I gotta be more like you." She shakes her head, then tightens her face in pain, and leans further over, still clutching her stomach and side. "What's going on with you?" he asks, worried, she moves around in pain, still clutching her stomach, and she can barely force words out. "I don't know. Oh— Andy something's wrong— bunch of knives inside of me—"

"Av? he gets off the bed and kneels in front of Averie, who is now leaning all the way forward with her head on her knees, "Son of a bitch—" "Av, hey, look at me." "The coven man, it's gotta be the coven." "Don't worry." Andrew gets up and rushes into the bathroom opening the cupboards below the sink looking for the hex bag as Averie yells in pain and lies back on the bed, her face still twisted in pain. He pulls things out of the cupboard throwing them aside. She leans forward again falling to her knees in front of the foot of the bed, spitting out blood, choking and sputtering. He is still looking for the hex bag, in another cupboard pulling out pillows and when he finds nothing, he moves to the bed while Averie is still choking on blood and spitting it out of her mouth.

He pulls off the covers to the bed tearing back the sheets and slices the mattress open with his knife and still cannot find the hex bag. "Av, I can't find it..." she rolls on her side and looks weak, "No." As she continues to cough blood more weakly, he rummages through her bag and pulls out the Colt and opens it to make sure there are bullets in it, "Andy?" he gets up and moves toward the door. "Andy?" she whines in pain as he runs out of the room.

~Flora's Home~

Samira, Flora, and Lindsy are around the coffee table again with the altar set up, chanting. "Kihér tolic echranmuk, madan fiéré, marc o don duer kianave _-_ "Andrew kicks in the door and the women scream out of fear getting up from the altar raising their hands in surrender. He enters the room with the Colt drawn, "Let her go." Flora looks at him, "Let who go? What are you doing? You're insane, get out!" "Look, if you know about me, then you know about this gun. You're killing my sister. Now let her go. Get away from the altar. "What?" "Now!" They all move away from the altar with their hands still up as he keeps the Colt trained on them.

~Motel Room~

Averie lays in a pool of blood she gasps and continues coughing blood. There are quick footsteps outside and the door is kicked open, Jade steps in and finds Averie who looks up and sees her, "You wanna kill me? Get in line bitch." She goes over to Averie and pulls her up by the collar tossing him on the bed, she leans over her and forces her mouth open with her left hand as Averie tries to push her away. Jade sprays a dark brown liquid into her mouth from a bag with her right hand while Averie still struggles under her hold. She stands up as Averie chokes on the liquid and spits some back out, "Stop ... calling me a bitch. And next time you point that gun at me, I'm not gonna just disappear, understand?" She tosses a sawed-off shotgun over to Averie, who gets to the foot of the bed, she snaps her fingers and Averie's face is somewhat cleaned off from the blood and liquid 'cure' that she gave.

"You ... saved my life." "Don't mention it." "What was that stuff? God, it was ass. It tasted like ass." She chuckles, "It's called witchcraft, short bus." "You're the short bus ... short bus." she shakes her head, "Come on. I have a feeling Andrew is gonna do something stupid." Averie gets up, feeling light-headed, she follows Jade out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

~Flora's Home~

Andrew keeps the Colt aimed at the women, "Go." they move over in front of the fireplace with their hands still up in the air. "What— we— we weren't hurting anyone." Samira says, Flora looks at him, "Please, we don't even know your sister." "Stop the spell, or die. Five seconds." "What?" He cocks the gun and points it back at them, "Four." "No, please, please don't kill us." We were just getting Flora a lower mortgage rate!" He sighs, "Okay, maybe it's not you—" he points the gun at Samira, "—or you." he points the gun at Flora this time. "Maybe it's you." he points the gun at Lindsy who sobs, upset and scared, "I don't even know what he's talking about. What a–re you even talking about?"

He glares at her, "I mean, all of you, everyone in your little coven, you've all had runs of good fortune. Newsworthy good fortune. Except for you. Now tell me, why is that? You didn't want anything for yourself? Or is it because you're already getting what you wanted – like these women's souls." "I can't- I-I'm not- I-I-I don't..." she sighs and puts her hands down, going from looking frightened to calm and her eyes change to black revealing that she is the demon Jade warned him about. The other women gasp, looking shocked, "Nice dick work, Magnum." "Let. My sister go." "What's wrong? Couldn't find my hex bag? Sorry, sweetheart, but your sister's lungs should be on the floor by now." Andrew shoots the Colt, the bullet slows as Lindsy lifts up her hand. The bullet loses momentum, slows, stops, and falls to the floor, "You're in a lot of trouble, Andrew."

She motions her arm at Andrew, and he is thrown against the wall behind him, pinned there. "Lindsy, what's wrong with your eyes?" Samira asks, she turns her head and attention on the other two women, making her eyes look human again. Andrew struggles helplessly on the wall, Flora looks scared, "Lins, what are you doing?" "Flora, shut your painted hole." "What? I-I will— You can't— Not in my house, Lindsy Fenton." Lindsy, annoyed, waves her right hand at Flora and her head snaps to the left so far it almost turns completely backwards, killing her instantly. Her body falls to the floor as Samira shrieks in terror, covering her mouth, Andrew stares at Lindsy, "Look. You got me – let the girl go." "Wait your turn, young man."

Samira makes another scared noise bringing Lindsy's attention back to her. "Shhh, Sammy, it's okay." "You're not Lindsy." "No, but I'm wearing her meat. I had to break the ice with you girls somehow." "You killed Flora!" "Flora, Ava ... That's what happens to witches who get voted off the island." "Who are you?" "Funny story, actually. You remember all those dark demonic forces you prayed to, when you swore your servitude? Just who did you think you were praying to?" she says, smiling, "This-this isn't – it can't b—" "What did you think it was? Make-believe? Positive thinking? The Secret? No, it was me. You sold yourself to me, you pig." Samira gasps and continues to stare at her in horror, "All I had to do was bring one good book to Book Club, and you ladies lined up to kiss my ass." "No, no, we didn't know—" "Oh, yes you did. You knew every step of the way, and now your ever livin' souls are mine."

Lindsy turns back to Andrew, who is still pinned to the wall, "Comments? Questions? Hmm, Andy Walker, wow! Right here in our little town. You know, my friends and I, we've been looking for you." "Why? Oh, right, 'cause I'm supposed to lead some piss poor demon army." "No, not at all. You're not our Messiah. We don't believe in you. But, there's a new leader rising in the West – a real leader. That's the horse to bet on, the one who's gonna tear this world apart. Thing is this demon? It doesn't like you very much. It doesn't want the competition." she raises her hand and Andrew slides up the wall, groaning, "No..no- No!" "Nothing personal, it's a P.R. thing, so, buh-bye." She keeps her hand raised, and Andrew continues to slide up the wall.

He starts to be crushed into the wall, paint and plaster cracking as he is pushed harder into the solid wall. Samira stands there watching, frozen in fear and the front door to the house slams open. Averie runs in with her shotgun drawn and Lindsy turns around, easily throwing her over the sofa, and when she gets up, she pins her to the wall behind her. "Two for one. Lovely." she stops making Andrew move and starts to raise Averie up the wall, "Ready to feel what your mommy felt?" "Wait!" Jade yells, she walks in with her hands raised in surrender. "Please. I just ... came to talk." she puts her hands down, looking at Lindsy, "You made it out of the gate. Impressive. That was a bitch of a fight, wasn't it?" "Doors out of Hell only open for so long." "What do you want, Jade?" "I've been lost without you. Take me back. That's why I led the Walkers here."

Averie looks angry, and mouths "I told you so" to Andrew, Jade tears up, "They're for you ... as a gift." "Really." "Let me serve you again. I've wanted it – I've wanted you – for so long." Averie raises her eyebrows at the demon/demon flirting, "You were one of my best." Lindsy says smiling. They look at each other, Jade pulls her knife out and tries to stab Lindsy, but she catches her hand in mid-air, "But then again, you always were a lying whore." The knife is thrown sideways out of their hands across the wood floor. Lindsy and Jade fight, Lindsy throws Jade into the TV, she gets up and kicks her, she goes to run past her, and Lindsy clotheslines Jade causing her to fall flat on her back.

Lindsy pulls Jade up and throws her into a bookcase, grabbing a fireplace poker from the stand on the hearth, looking at Samira who is still cowering from before, she walks back to Jade with the poker in her hand, "You're really telling me you threw in your chips with Mulder and Scully here?" Jade, panting, tries to get up, Lindsy hits her across the face with the poker. Samira runs to the altar and dumps a bunch of pins out of a bow onto the cloth with the demonic symbol on it, she is unseen by Lindsy, who is still paying attention to Jade. "Come on. Get up." Jade lays on the ground, groaning with blood coming out of her nose. "I said, get up!" she tosses the poker aside and crouches over Jade, grabbing her by the jacket and pulling her up.

"We've been here before, haven't we?" she chuckles to herself and looks over at Andrew, "She didn't tell you? Pretty mortifying, I guess. She was one of mine. I turned her out a long, long time ago. Jade here was a witch." she looks her in the eyes snarling, "Of course, that was when you were human." Both of the Walkers look surprised even though they are still both pinned to their respective walls. Lindsy throws Jade back down onto the debris of the bookcase she crashed through and stands up, "Didn't want your friends to know that all those centuries back, you sold yourself to me? Embarrassing, I guess. But don't worry love, no secrets where you're heading remember?"

Lindsy begins to chant and black smoke rises out of Jade's mouth curling and hovering inches above her mouth, "Monyé valack forsa, ulu iri regatt ruac, fieesh nilesh forthsa lé inmist infirum forthsa por un betest a té un fornalles ecclaisee –" she begins to cough, Samira is chanting under her breath at the altar. As Lindsy coughs harder, Averie is dropped from the wall, Andrew also falls from the wall and drops to the floor. Lindsy brings her hand up to her mouth, coughing up a handful of long pins into her hand, her mouth bleeding in the process. She looks at the pins and raises her right hand and clenches it into a fist. Samira's breath catches and her eyes go wide as her heart stops and she falls onto the altar, dead.

Averie comes up behind Lindsy and stabs her in the back repeatedly with Jade's discarded knife. Lindsy dies as well as the demon that was inside of her and she falls to the floor. Averie looks at Jade and goes to help Andrew up, they both move toward the door and stop to look back. "Go." she looks at them, slightly embarrassed, and wipes the blood away from her mouth, "I'll clean up this mess." Averie starts to walk toward the door, helping Andrew on her way, "Come on." Jade turns her eyes black and glares at them, "Go..please." They walk out the door, she leans over Lindsy's body, takes her knife out of her back and holds it up.

~Motel Room. Sunrise~

Averie walks around outside of the motel while Andrew sleeps. As the lights flicker, she looks around, and turns to see Jade standing there in the shadows of the parking lot. "So the devil may care after all, is that what I'm supposed to believe?" Jade looks down, "I don't believe in the devil." She walks toward her, "Let me get this straight, you were human once, you died, you went to hell, you became a..." "Yeah." "How long ago?" She sighs, "Back when the plague was big." "So all of 'em – every damn demon – they were all human once?" she nods, "Everyone I've ever met." Averie chuckles half-heartedly, "Well, they sure don't act like it." "Most of them have forgotten what it means, or even that they were. That's what happens when you go to Hell, Av. That's what Hell is – forgetting what you are."

"Philosophy lesson from a demon. I'll pass, thanks." Jade looks at her, pain in her look, "It's not philosophy. It's not a metaphor. There's a real fire in the pit. Agonies you can't even imagine." "No, I saw "Hell raiser". I get the gist." "Actually, they got that pretty close. Except for all the custom leather." she says, chuckling softly. Averie watches as Jade starts walking away before stopping and turning back, "The answer is yes, by the way." "I'm sorry?" "The same thing will happen to you. It might take centuries, but sooner or later Hell will burn away your humanity. Every Hell-bound soul, every one, turns into something else. Turns you into us. So yeah. Yeah, you can count on it." She tears up, "There's no way of saving me from the Pit, is there?" she looks up at her sadly, "No."

"Then why'd you tell Andrew that you could?" "So he would talk to me. You Walkers can be pretty bigoted. I needed something to help him get past the–" "The demon thing? It's pretty hard to get past." She shakes her head, smiling softly, "Look at you. Tryin' to be all stoic. My god, it's heartbreaking." Averie gives her a confused look, "Why are you telling me all this?" "I need your help." "Help with what?" "With Andrew. The way you stuck that demon tonight – it was pretty tough. He is almost there, but not quite. You need to help me get him ready – for life without you. To fight this war on his own." She nods, "Why do you want us to win?" "Isn't it obvious? I'm not like them. I don't know why. I – I wish I was, but ... I'm not. I remember what it's like." "What what's like?" Jade looks at her with tears in her eyes, "Being human." Averie looks down lost in her thoughts, when she looks up Jade has disappeared leaving her all alone in the parking lot.


	10. Dream a Little Dream of Me

Dean walks through the house, flashlight in hand, looking around. The wind is whistling outside, he hears a sound and turns around, but there's nothing there. He looks a bit worried, "Hello?" he calls out, there's a noise from the kitchen, he slowly slides the doors open, and takes a few steps in. He scans the room and suddenly hears a woman scream as she attacks him. He falls to the floor with her on top of him and she struggles with him, pulling him back and forth, while still screaming. He struggles to fight her off as she slams his head off the tile, he reaches for his flashlight, but it is gone.

~Motel Room. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania~

Dean is asleep on a bed, he lies motionless, the door is opened from the outside and a maid enters the room. After a few steps she sees him on the bed, he hasn't reacted to the noises she's made, "Oh! I'm sorry." She begins to walk out again, but as she retrieves the keys from the door, and he still hasn't moved, she looks a bit worried. "Sir?" since he's still not moving, she leaves the keys in the door and walks over to his bed. She touches him on the shoulder, "Sir? Wake up." she grabs his shoulders, shaking him softly, trying to wake him up. "Wake up, do you hear me? Wake up. Sir, wake up!" she turns around to the door, panicked. "Help! I need some help in here!"

~Bar~

Andrew is sitting in the back nursing a drink, he tilts his glass back and forth slowly, almost spilling out the contents. He's looking sad and all the hope he usually has in him is gone, the door opens behind him and Averie walks in. When she sees him she walks over, upset and relieved, "There you are. What are you doing?" he looks up at her, shrugging, "Having a drink." "It's two in the afternoon. You're drinking whiskey?" "I drink whiskey all the time." she sits down in front of him, "No, you don't." "What's the big deal? You get sloppy in bars, you hit on chicks all the time. Why can't I?" She looks around and sees that there's not many people in the bar; just the one woman by the bar, who's quite a bit older than them.

"It's kind of slim pickings around here." she turns back to him, "What's going on with you?" he shakes his head, and doesn't say anything for a few moments. He looks completely lost, "I tried, Av." "To do what?" "To save you." She gives him a look, then glances over to the bartender, "Can I get a whiskey? Double, neat." "I'm serious, Averie." "No, you're drunk." He shakes his head, starting to cry, "I mean, where you're going... what you're gonna become. I can't stop it. I'm starting to think maybe even Jade can't stop it. But really, the thing is, no one can save you." "That's what I've been telling you." "No, that's not what I mean. I mean, no one can save you, because you don't wanna be saved. I mean, how can you care so little about yourself?" She scoffs, smiling softly, not saying a word. "What's wrong with you?" he says, voice breaking from sadness, she looks over to meet his eyes, but before they get a chance to say anything else, Averie's cell phone rings. "Hello?" "Is this Miss. Snyderson?" "Yes, this is." "We have your father in here..he's not doing so well." she looks scared and surprised, "What..? Where?" "UPMC Mercy."

~UPMC Mercy~

Dean lies in a bed, Andrew and Averie stand next to his bed while talking to the doctor. "So, what's the diagnosis?" Andrew asks, "We've texted everything we can think to test. He seems perfectly healthy." "Except that he's comatose." Averie says, he looks at her, "Miss. Snyderson, you're his emergency contact. Anything we should know? Any illnesses?" she has tears in her eyes as she looks over at Dean, "No, he-he never gets sick. I mean, he doesn't even catch a cold. Doctor, is there anything you can do?" "I'm sorry, but we don't know what's causing it... so we don't know how to treat it. He just... went to sleep, and didn't wake up." She nods, "Thanks anyway.." he leaves the two of them and she sits on the chair beside the bed.

"De, wake up...Please, we need you here. I-I need you here. You're like a father to me, I can't lose you.." she reaches out and grabs his hand, she starts crying as she holds it. Andrew looks at her sadly, she bites her tongue, "Andy needs you to be here when I leave. Just wake up, please! Tell us what did this, or at least what caused this! Tell us why you were here!" "Av.." Andrew whispers, she looks up at him. "We need to find whatever did this. That fucker needs to pay.... It hurt Dean.. he'll never wake up unless we find the freak that did this."

~Dean's Motel Room~

Andrew pushes open the door, "So, what was Dean doing in Pittsburgh?" Averie sighs, "Unless he's taking an extremely lame vacation..." She closes the door as they walk into the center of the room, "I mean, he must have been working a job, right?" the walls are bare, there is no garbage, "Well, you think there'd be some sort of sign of something, you know?" He opens a drawer, but it's empty. She does the same, and that too is empty, "Research, news clippings...Or a frigging pizza box or a beer can. But, there's nothing!" She walks away from the dresser she was looking in, Andrew goes over to the closet. He pushes the door open, Dean's clothes hang, covering something.

"How 'bout this?" he moves the clothes out of the way and on the wall behind them hangs all of the news clippings, maps, and pictures they were looking for. There are pictures of roots, mushrooms, seeds, and a map where Dean has written "Pittsburgh" in big letters and underlined it. There are post-its with addresses and numbers, there's a piece of paper about a plant. She chuckles as she looks at it, "Good old Dean, always covering up his tracks." Andrew looks at her, "You make heads or tails of any of this?" Averie takes one of the papers about a plant and reads the title of it, "Silene capensis, which of course means absolutely nothing to me." "Here. Obit." He takes a newspaper clipping and reads from it as he skims it, "Dr. Walter Gregg, 64, university neurologist."

"How'd he bite it?" "Um.. actually, they don't know. They say he just went to sleep and didn't wake up." She takes the clipping from him, reading it herself, "That sound familiar to you?" "All right... So let's say Dean was looking into the doc's death. You know, hunting after something-" he looks over at her as she looks up, "–that started hunting him." "Yeah." "Okay, stay here. See if you can make heads or tails of this." "What are you gonna do?" "I'm gonna look into the good doctor myself."

~Dr. Gregg's Office~

Books and boxes are cluttered over the office, ready to be packed up and removed. Averie and Dr. Gregg's assistant, Nevaeh, walk in, "So you're Dr. Gregg's lab assistant?" she asks, "That's right." "Well, his death must have come as a shock to you." Nevaeh frowns, "Yeah, it did." Averie looks around the office, while she stands behind her. "But, still, go in your sleep, peaceful... That's what you wish for, right?" Averie looks at a book on the doctor's desk, "Yeah. Dr. Gregg uh.. studied sleeping disorders? Dreams?" she picks up the book and holds it up for Nevaeh to see, "I don't understand. I went over all of this with the other detective." she puts it back and looks at her, curious, "You already spoke to another detective?" "Yes. A very nice man with a 5 o'clock shadow."

Averie chuckles, "Well, I'd love to hear it again if you don't mind." "Thing is, I'm sort of busy. Maybe we could do this later?" "Sure. Yeah. Just bring you down to the station later this afternoon, and get your statement on tape, do it all official-like." Neveah looks at her panicked, "Look, okay, I didn't know about Dr. Gregg's experiments. Not until I was cleaning out his files." "His experiments, uh...? The ones he was conducting on ... sleeping?" "No one knew, okay? Not the university, not anybody. I already spoke with a lawyer and he told me I can't be held liable for anything." She thinks of something quickly, "Maybe you couldn't, but that was before the new evidence came to light." "New evidence?" "Mm-hm." "What new evidence?" "I'm not at liberty to say." Neveah sighs, feeling like she's been screwed, "I'm just a grad student. This was a gig to cover tuition." Averie looks at her, "Maybe so. But, uh, still, this- this... this could go on your permanent record. Unless you hand over the doctor's research to me. All of it."

~Collin Jäger's House~

Averie holds up her badge that states she's a detective for the Pittsburgh Police Department. Collin moves away from the door so she can come in, "I don't know what the RA said, but, ah, I was growing ferns." she chuckles, "Take it easy, Phish, that's not why I'm here." "Really?" She shows him that she is just holding a file, he sighs in relief, "Oh, thank God. Okay." "I wanna talk to you about Dr. Gregg's sleep study." "Yeah... Dr. Gregg just died." "You were one of his test subjects, right?" "Yeah, I was." He opens his fridge and takes out two beers, he holds one out to Averie, "Unless you're on ... duty or, whatever?" She looks to the door for a second, and then decides to go for the beer, "I guess I can make an exception."

She takes the bottle as he grabs the bottle opener. He opens his bottle as Averie uses her ring to open her own. They lift their beers to each other and then both take a swig, "Now, Dr. Gregg was testing treatments for, uh, "Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome"? Which means...?" "Um... I, uh... I can't dream." she gives him a look, he sighs, "I had this bike accident when I was a kid and banged my head pretty good and I haven't had a dream since. Till the study. You know. Sort of." "What'd the doc give you?" He sighs, grimacing, "It's this yellow tea. It.. it smelled awful, tasted worse." "What did it do?" "Just passed right out. And uh, I had the most vivid, super-intense dream. Like a bad acid trip, you know?" Averie chuckles, forgetting she is impersonating a detective, "Totally," he looks at her shocked, "I mean, no." "I dropped out of the study right after that. I didn't... like it. To tell you the truth... It kind of scared me."

~UPMC Mercy. Hour Later~

Averie sits by Dean's bed, looking at him, tears in her eyes. "Come on, we found something to help...We just need you to help now."Andrew stands outside the door, watching his big sister, "Dean, we need you back...You have been the one we counted on for so many years and we can't lose you now. I know I'm heading to the pit, but Andrew is gonna need you back. You've been there since he was eight-years-old, he won't be the same without you. Heaven knows that he'll do just fine without me." He moves in the doorway, making the door move slightly, she turns around to see him. He walks over, "How is he?" she rubs her hand over her chin as she looks back at Dean, "No change. What you got?" he holds out some files, "Well, considering what you told me about the doc's experiments...Dean's wall is starting to make a hell of a lot more sense."

She looks up, "How so?" he pulls out a picture of a plant from the one folder. "This plant, Silene capensis, is also known as African Dream Root? It's been used by shaman and medicine men for centuries." "Let me guess. They dose up, bust out the didgeridoos, start kicking around the hackey." He gives her an annoyed look, "Not quite. If you believe the legends, it's used for dream walking. I mean, entering another person's dreams, poking around in their heads." she sighs, "I take it we believe the legends." "When don't we? But dream walking is just the tip of the iceberg." She picks up a paper from the folder that contains info on the root and a drawing of it, "What do you mean?" "I mean, this Dream Root is some serious mojo. You take enough of it, with practice, you can become a regular Freddy Krueger. You can control anything. You could turn bad dreams good, you could turn good dreams bad."

Averie sighs, "And kill people in their sleep?" Andrew nods as he looks at Dean, "For example, yeah." She closes her eyes as she starts to tear up, he frowns, "So let's say uh, let's say this doc was testing this stuff on his patients, Tim Leary-style." "Somebody gets pissed at him, decides to give him a little dream visit, he goes nighty-night." "But what about Dean?" She looks over at him, "If the killer came after him, how come he's still alive?" "I don't know."

Dean holds a door closed as the woman is banging on it, making it rattle. She continues to scream and he is panting, scared. He looks around for something to hold the door and grabs an old suitcase. He desperately grabs around the space, which now reveals itself to be a closet, for anything to hold the door. He grabs a broom and holds his back to the door, trying to keep it closed. "Help me! Somebody help me!" The closet is now gone and has turned into a very long hallway. "Help me! Someone help!"

Andrew and Averie leave Dean's room, walking down the hallway. "So how do we find our homicidal sandman?" she asks, he shrugs, "Could be anyone." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Anyone who knew the doctor had access to his dream shrooms." "Maybe one of his test subjects or something?" She frowns, "Possible. But his research was pretty sketchy. I mean.. I don't know how many subjects he had, or who all of them were." he scoffs, she looks at him, "What?" "In any other case, we'd be calling Dean and asking him for help right now." Averie grabs Andrew by his arm to stop him and looks up at him, "You know what? You're right." "What?" She smiles, "Let's go talk to him." "Sure. I think we might find the conversation a bit one-sided." "Not if we're tripping on some Dream Root."

He shakes his head, "What?" "You heard me." "You wanna go dream walking inside Dean's head?" She chuckles, "Yeah. Why not? Maybe we could help." "We have no idea what's crawling around in there." "Well, how bad could it be?" "Bad." "Dude, it's Dean." He thinks for a moment, "Yeah, you're right. One problem though. We're fresh out of African Dream Root, so unless you know someone who can score some ..." She sighs, "Crap." "What?" "Brianna." "Brianna? Crap...You're actually suggesting we ask her a favor?" "I'm feeling dirty just thinking about it, but yeah." he shakes his head as she walks away.

~Motel Room~

Andrew sits on the bed researching his laptop when he hears a knock on the door, he closes the lid on the computer, sighs, and then walks over to the door. He cautiously only opens it a few inches and then when he sees who it is, sighs, and opens it up completely, holding it open. Brianna walks in wearing a trenchcoat, "Hey, Andrew." he closes the door as she stops in the middle of the room, turns around, and faces him. "Brianna, I didn't think there's a chance in hell you'd show up." she smiles at him, "Well, I'm full of surprises. Though, truthfully..." she takes hold of the belt of her trenchcoat, and advances slowly towards him. "You wanna know why I'm here?" He takes a few steps back as she walks in front of him, "Okay?"

She unzips the trench coat, "Because of you." he looks to the side, unsure and a bit confused, as the coat falls to the floor, revealing that she's wearing a slip. "Uh... What are you doing?" He looks at her and she puts her hand on his cheek, her eyes on his lips, "I can't stop thinking about you." "What?" she leans in and kisses him.

Andrew sits at the desk, sleeping with his head on his arm. Drool covers his hand and he's got a smile on his face. Across the room, Averie sits in a chair, looking up at him and holding papers that she'd been reading through. He smiles a little more and then realizes it was just a dream, his smile disappears and he sits up, wiping his face with the back of his hand. The same hand he has drool on, which he discovers. Averie chuckles, watching him, "Dude, you were out. And making some seriously happy noises." he looks very embarrassed and doesn't look over at her. She smiles, "Who were you dreaming about?" "What? No one. Nothing." "C'mon, you can tell me. Angelina Jolie?" "No." "Brad Pitt?" he turns around, almost looking at her. "No. No! Av, it doesn't matter." "Whatever."

He turns back around, mocking her "Whatever." She puts the papers in her hands down, "I called Brianna." "Brianna? Yeah? She- What'd she.. you know, say? She.. gonna.. help us?" "Shockingly, no, which puts us back to square one. I've been trying to decipher the doctor's notes. Unfortunately, he has worse handwriting than you do.." he nods, looking around at the room, she sighs, "You gonna come help me with this stuff?" "Yeah, yeah. Just give me a sec." He moves around a bit in his seat, stretching. Suddenly a knock on the door sounds, they both turn in its direction. Andrew stays in his chair as Averie gets up to open the door, she opens the door just inches, just like he did in his dream. When she sees who it is, she looks annoyed and opens up the door, walking with it, "Brianna. As I live and breathe."

Brianna walks in, wearing a similar trenchcoat to the one in Andrew's dream, only this one is black and the other one was tan. "You called me. Remember?" she asks, Averie glares at her, "I remember you turning me down." "Well, I'm just full of surprises." She turns to Andrew, he lifts one hand at her, waving awkwardly over his shoulder, staying half-turned away from her and Averie. He doesn't look either of them in the eyes, "Hey, Brianna. What's going on?" Averie looks from Brianna to him, as she hands her a jar of something, "I brought you your African Dream Root. Nasty stuff, and not easy to come by." She puts her bag on the TV and starts to open her coat, with her back to Andrew. He sits up, alertly, breathing in anticipation.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Averie asks, "What? I can't do you a little favor every now and again?" "No. You can't." He tenses up as her coat slips off, it falls away and reveals her in a regular long-sleeved blue shirt, and not as he had been half-expecting. He lets out a breath silently, visibly relaxing a bit more, Averie groans, "Come on, I wanna know what the strings are before you attach them." "You said this was for Dean Singer, right?" she nods, "Well, I'm doing it for him. Not you." "Dean? Why?" "He saved my life once...In Flagstaff." Averie throws a look Andrew's way, he just shrugs. She looks back at her, still not responding to her statement, "I screwed up and he saved me, okay? You satisfied?" "Maybe." She glares at Averie, who's now looking at the jar, "So when do we go on this little magical mystery tour?" "Oh, you're not going anywhere. I don't trust you enough to let you in my car, much less Dean's head. No offense."

Andrew looks a bit disappointed, watching as Averie walks over to the closet. She turns on the lights and opens up the safe, where the Colt is, puts in the jar of Dream Root with it, Brianna stares at the Colt, "None taken." He looks up at her quickly as Averie closes the safe, locking it. She walks into the room again, Briana scoffs, "It's 2 am. Where am I supposed to go?" "Get a room. Ah, they got the Magic Fingers, a little Casa Erotica on pay-per-view. You'll love it." "You..." Brianna takes her bag in a huff and walks to the door, Andrew grabs her trenchcoat and follows her, "Bri-" she turns around, taking it from him and continuing down the hall. "It's nice to- Uh, see you."

-

Andrew walks over to the beds with two glass cups of the liquid containing the Dream Root, Averie sits on the bed, waiting for him to hand her a cup. He hands her a cup, sitting on the second bed, "Uh, should we dim the lights and sync up Dark Side of the Moon?" she looks over at him with a smile. "Why?" "What did you do during college?" he looks at her, confused, she scoffs and goes to drink the liquid but he stops her. "Wait, wait, wait. Can't forget this." she puts down the cup and looks over at him as he pulls out a little envelope from the shirt pocket. She holds her hand out, he places something in her hand, "Here." "What the hell is that?" "Dean's hair."

"We have to drink his hair?" he nods, grimacing, "That's how you control whose dream you're entering. You gotta ... drink some of their uh... some of their body." "Well, guess the hair of the dog is better than other parts of the body." They put the hair in their mouths, getting ready to drink what seems to be a very disgusting drink. They both raise their cups a bit, "Bottoms up." she says, "Yeah..." they clink their cups together in a toast and then drink it all. Averie looks at her empty cup, disgusted, Andrew groans as he sits his down. "Feel anything?" he shakes his head a little, "No. You feel anything?" "No...Maybe we got some bad shwag." There's the sound of thunder outside, she looks over at the window, "Hey, when did it start raining?" he looks over at the window as well. He then gets up and walks slowly to the window, drawing open the white curtain liners. 

The rain is actually not coming from the sky, but from the ground, "When did it start raining upside down?" she gets up, walking over to him, as they turn around the room suddenly changes to the house Dean has been dreaming of. "Okay, I don't know what's weirder – the fact that we're in Dean's head ... or that he's dreaming of Better Homes and Gardens." she says, looking around the living room, he thinks for a moment, "Wait. Wait a sec. Imagine the place, uh, without the paint job. More cluttered, dusty, books all over the place." Averie frowns, "It's his house." "Yeah." She starts walking to the hall, "Dean?!" he turns back around and walks slowly to the stairs. "Dean?!" He sighs as he looks at the window, someone passes by, "Av?" she looks at him, "What?" "I'm gonna go look outside." "No, no, no, stay close." "I'll be fine. Just, look around in here. Look, we gotta find him." "Don't do anything stupid."

Andrew walks out the door and looks around in amazement, instead of a dark rainy, color-drained day, it's beautiful out with the sun shining above. He steps back, the house is bright blue, with flowers all around, birds are chirping. The porch creaks a bit as he crosses it, he looks up at the car parked across the way, it's the car Dean was driving when they dealt with the 7 Sins, but better cared for. As he takes in the differences he can see, the front door slams behind him, "Averie!" He runs over to the window next to the door and bangs on it while looking in, "Averie!" she is still looking around the living room, back to him, and not reacting to him banging on the glass or yelling. He stares at her for a moment before turning around, looking out at the yard again, he walks off starting to lose hope for himself.

Inside, Averie opens the doors to the kitchen, where Dean was hiding earlier. She walks in, looking around cautiously, she goes down the hall on the other side of the room, "Dean?" She looks down the hallway, where there are two doors. One across from the kitchen and one on the left, "Help!" a distant voice yells, she turns around to see there's another closed door. "Dean?!" "Who's out there?" She turns back to the door that was on her left, the door is covered in bloody claw marks, she tries turning the knob, "Dean, you in there?" "Averie?" "Yeah. It's me. Open up."

Dean opens the door and looks behind her, she smiles slightly, "Hey." He moves into the kitchen, looking scared and looking around to make sure the screaming woman isn't there. She looks at him, he has scratches and marks on his face and arms. "How in the hell did you find me?" "Andrew and I got our hands on some of that Dream Root stuff." "Dream Root? What?" "Dr. Gregg, the experiments?" Dean still looks around and throws her a glance. "What the hell are you talking about?" The lamps begin to flicker, he freezes, "Hurry." As he runs for the closet again, Averie turns around and grabs him, trying to figure out what's going on.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?" "She's coming." she frowns, "Okay, you know this is a dream, don't you?" "What are you, crazy?" "It's a dream, Dean! None of this is real!" The door swings open and the woman that has been chasing Dean rushes in, he goes behind Averie, "Does that look made-up?" She turns around and sees the woman, she's wearing a white dress with blood on it, coming from wounds on her neck and chest. Suddenly the closet door slams shut, Dean turns around, rattling the doorknob to make it open.

Averie looks at him, then looks back at the woman. Now she looks rather normal except for the bleeding wounds on her chest and neck. Even her hair is styled in a regular fashion, she doesn't look happy though. "Dean, who is that?" he has tears in his eyes now, but not from being terrified. "She's... She's my wife." Averie looks at Dean, shocked, he starts to tear up as his wife glares at him, but her look softens, "Why Dean? Why did you do this to me?" he turns back to her, "I'd rather died myself than hurt you." Lisa shakes her head, "But you did hurt me. You shoved that knife into me. Again and again. You watched me bleed. Watched me die." Averie grabs him by the arm "Dean, she's not real." he doesn't respond to Averie, his eyes are still on his wife. 

"How could you?" "You were possessed, baby. You were rabid. And I didn't know what I know now. I didn't know how to save you." "You're lying. You wanted me dead! If you'd loved me, you would've found a way!" A tear slides down his cheek as he watches her get closer, "I'm sorry." Averie grabs hold of him again, more forcefully this time, “Come on!” she drags him into the living room and as she begins to slide the doors closed, Lisa runs for the doors, screaming at them. 

-

Andrew walks by a line of washed sheets, drying in the wind, he hears something and turns around, Collin – Dr. Gregg's research subject – is right behind him, he swings a bat at Andrew and hits him hard in the chest and shoulder. He falls to the ground, holding his shoulder as Collin stands over him. “Who are you?” he asks, Collin glares at him, “Who are you? You don't belong here.” “You're one to talk. You're in my friend's head.” “You got a poor choice in friends. This is self-defense. He came after me. He wanted to hurt me.” “That may be because you're a killer.” Collin scoffs, “You should be nicer to me. In here... you're just an insect. I'm a god.”

-

Lisa starts banging on the door, Averie looks at him while also looking for something to hold the door shut, "I'm telling you, all of it. Your house, your wife, it's a nightmare!" she gives up and just leans against them, Dean stands across from her, just staring with tear-filled eyes, "I killed her." She moves a bookcase in front of the door, turning back to him, resting her hands on his shoulders, "Dean! This is your dream. And you can wake up. I mean, hell, you can do anything." he knocks her hands away, moving to the door, "Just leave me alone. Let her kill me already." She grabs him, making him face her, "Look at me. You gotta snap out of this now! You're not gonna die. I'm not gonna let you die. You're like a father to me. You gotta believe me, please." They look at each other for a moment. Dean looks once at the door his wife is still banging on and screaming behind, and then he looks back at Averie, "I'm dreaming?" "Yes! Now take control of it." he looks towards the door, and closes his eyes tightly, suddenly all the banging and screaming stops. She lets go of him and walks over to the doors, removing the bookshelf and sliding the doors open, revealing an empty kitchen. Lisa is nowhere in sight. "I don't believe it." he mutters, she turns around and looks at him. "Believe it. Now would you please wake up?"

~UPMC Mercy. Later~

Dean sits in bed, looking over the papers from the investigation. Averie sits on the end of the bed, also reading papers, "Hey, Dean. That, uh... That stuff, all that stuff with your wife? That actually happen?" He stares at the paper in his hand, "Everybody got into hunting somehow." "I'm sorry." "Don't be sorry. If it weren't for you, I'd still be lost in there. Or dead." he looks up at her, "Thank you." she only responds with a small smile, Andrew comes in after that, seeing the two sharing a moment. "So, uh, stoner boy wasn't in his dorm. My guess is he's long gone by now." "He ain't much of a stoner." Dean picks up a picture of Collin, looking at it, she looks over from her paper, "No?" "No. His name's Collin Jäger. Full-on genius. Hundred-and-sixty IQ. Which is sayin' some, considering his dad took a baseball bat to his head." He picks up another paper and hands it to Andrew, "Here's Father of the Year." it's a copy of a driver's license for Collin's dad, Henry Jäger, "He died before Collin was 10." Andrew glares at the picture, "Looks like a real sweetheart." Dean scoffs, "Injury gave him Charcot-Wilbrand. He hasn't dreamt since." He puts the paper back down, Averie frowns, "Till he started dosing the dream drug?" "Yep." "How'd he know how to dig up your worst nightmare and throw it at you?" "Hey, he was rooting around in my skull. God knows what he saw in there." Andrew looks at him, confused, "Yeah. How'd he get in there in the first place? Isn't he supposed to have some of your hair, your DNA, or something?" he looks at him guiltily, "Yeahhhh. 'Fore I knew it was him, he offered me a beer. I drank it. Dumbest frigging thing." Averie realizes she's done the same thing and chuckles nervously, "Oh, I don't know. It wasn't that dumb." They both look at her, "Av, you didn't." Andrew says, she looks up sheepishly, "I was thirsty?" "That's great. Now he can come after either one of you." "Well, now we just have to find him first." Dean shakes his head, "We better work fast ... and coffee up. Because the one thing we cannot do – is fall asleep."

~Road. Two Days Later~

Averie's behind the wheel, clearly pissed over the whole situation as Andrew is in the passenger seat reading something. She hits the wheel, "I mean, this Collin guy's not a friggin' ghost. Where the hell could he be?" he flinches and looks at her "Av, you sure you don't want me to drive? You seem a little...too caffeinated." "Well, thanks for the news flash, Edison!" her cell rings. She tries to get hold of it but she fumbles, muttering indistinctly in frustration, she finally gets it in hand. "Tell me you got something!" " Strip club was a bust, huh ?" "Yeah." " That was our last lead. " "What the hell, Dean!?" " Don't yell at me, girl. I'm working my ass off here. " She sighs, "Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just... I'm-I'm-I'm tired." " Well, who ain't? " "What's Brianna got?" " Sorry. Sometimes the spirit world is in a chatty mood, and sometimes it isn't. I got nothing ." "Great! Well, I'm just gonna go blow my brains out now!" She flips the phone closed and throws it in her lap, hitting the steering-wheel grunting angrily. She turns the car on a side road instead of continuing. When they get to a clearing in the woods, she shuts off the engine, "All right, that's it. I'm done." "What are you doing?"

  
  
  
  


Averie slides down a bit in the seat, resting her head on the back of it, "Taking myself a long-overdue nap." he looks at her, upset "What?! Av, Collin can come after you." "That's the idea." "Excuse me?" She sighs, "Come on man, we can't find him, so let him come to me." "On his own turf? Where he's basically a god?" "I can handle it." "Not alone, you can't." He reaches over and pulls out some of her hair, "Ow!" she touches her head where Andrew grabbed some hair, "What are you doing?" "Comin' in with you." she looks at him, slightly scared, "No, you're not." "Why not? At least then it'll be two against one." She doesn't have a response first, opening and closing her mouth, "'Cause I don't want you digging around in my head." "Too bad." he goes for the items to make the liquid and she just stares at him for a moment.

-

They're both asleep, leaning on opposite doors of the Impala. Andrew wakes up first, clearing his throat and looking around. They are in the same spot as when they went to sleep, "Av." he hits Averie on the arm and she wakes up immediately, "For the love of God...What's wrong?" She looks around a bit, extremely tired and slightly worried, "What are we still doing here?" "I have no idea." He looks over when he hears something in the distance, "There's someone out there." They get out of the car, looking around, as they walk in front of the car, music can suddenly be heard. Averie looks behind her, when she turns around, a corner of the clearing lights up, and there sits Skylar Amores on a little blanket and a picnic basket. She just looks at her and she smiles up at her, "Hey. You gonna sit down?" she doesn't move, just continues looking at her. She has a glass of red wine in her hand and she reaches for another glass in the basket, "Come on. We only have an hour before we have to pick Noah up from baseball." Skylar holds the glass for her, giving another smile, Andrew is standing a bit behind Averie, taking this all in as she just looks at her.

She then looks over at him, "I've never had this dream before." she turns back, away from him, and she has tears in her eyes as she whispers 'Noah is safe..' Andrew takes a few steps forward, she wipes the tears away, "Stop looking at me like that." "Sorry." Skylar walks towards Averie, placing a hand on her cheek, which she leans into, "Averie. I love you, I love our family." She smiles, giving her a sad look, suddenly the entire scene shakes and both Skylar, the picnic, the light, and the music disappears. "Where'd she go?" she asks, Andrew looks out into the woods and sees Collin comes out from behind a tree. He takes after him and he runs off, Averie quickly follows Andrew and they run into the woods. She loses track of him, but keeps running in the same direction. Suddenly she stops and turns, looking around confused, the woods have turned into wallpaper and she is standing in a hallway with doors on both sides.

She down the hallway towards a door at the end of it, before she reaches it, it suddenly opens up slowly. The door glides open more, revealing a motel room, as Averie enters the room, there is a faint clicking. Across the room from the door, sits a person on the chair by the desk, she walks further into the room, watching them. "Collin?

  
  
  
  


They keep clicking the on and off button for the lamp on the desk, their back to her. They turn their head back towards Averie and doesn't look very nice. She sees that the person is herself. Dream Averie slowly stands up, and walks towards to Averie, who swallows in fear, "Hey, Averie." she chuckles, "Well, aren't you a beautiful son of a gun." "We need to talk." She nods and begins to walk in a circle, as does Dream Averie. They're walking in the same direction just across from each other, "I get it. I get it. I'm my own worst nightmare, is that it? Huh? Kind of like the Superman III junkyard scene? A little mano y mano with myself?" Dream Averie glares, "Joke all you want, smart-ass. But you can't lie to me. I know the truth." They stop walking, now having changed places, Averie standing by the desk, Dream Averie by the door. "I know how dead you are inside. How worthless you feel. I know how you look into a mirror... and hate what you see." Averie frowns at her words, "Sorry, pal. It's not gonna work. You're not real." Dream Averie scoffs, "Sure I am. I'm you." "I don't think so. 'Cause see, this is my siesta. Not yours." She raises her left hand, "All I gotta do is snap my fingers and you go bye-bye." she snaps her fingers once, and nothing happens. Her smile fades, and she snaps again, noticing nothing's happening.

Dream Averie just watches her, amused, Averie snaps them three more times and then lets her hand fall to the side, Dream Averie gives an I-told-you-so nod. "I'm not going anywhere. Neither are you." the door slams shut behind them, and locks. All the snark is gone from Averie's features; she's completely serious. Dream Averei smiles, "Like I said..." she raises her right hand, in which she is now holding a sawed-off shotgun. "... we need to talk."

-

Andrew wakes up, gasping, he looks over at Averie, who's still asleep. "Av." he hits her on the arm, but it's in fact not Averie, but Collin, who's very much awake. "Averie. Wake up." He hits him on the arm two more times and then Collin turns around, with a hard, evil look. Andrew only has a second to respond and take in that it's Collin and not his sister, Collin hits him hard in his stomach with the tip of the bat he used earlier in Dean's Dream. He grunts and opens the door, he falls out, face first, still grunting over the pain. Collin comes around the front of the car, the bat resting against his shoulder, "Boy, you just don't know when to leave well enough alone, do you?" As he walks towards Andrew, who's reached the back of the Impala still on the ground, he closes the door he fell out through and continues walking up to him. Towering over him as he turns over, looking up at him, still moving backward, "You're a psycho." "You're wrong." "Yeah? Tell that to Dr. Gregg."

  
  
  
  


Collin raises his eyebrows, "The doc? No, no. The doc's the one that got me hooked on this stuff, and then he took it away." he leans on the Impala, raising the bat, holding it like he's about to swing, looking down at Andrew, who prepares to block the hit. "But I needed it, and he wouldn't let me have it." "So you killed him?" he scoffs, "I can dream again. You know what that's like, not to be able to dream? You never rest, not really. It's like being awake for 15 years." "And let me guess. That makes you go crazy?" He leans down, holding the bat out at him, "I just wanna be left alone. I just wanna dream." "Sorry. Can't do that." "That's the wrong answer." Andrew is suddenly pulled flat against the ground. He groans and gasps heavily, he is now tied to railroad spikes, unable to move. "I'm getting better and better at this. Stronger and stronger all the time." He's standing by his feet, now examining the bat. Andrew looks to the side, and Collin looks down at him, "But you and your sister? You're not waking up. Not this time. I'm not gonna let you."

-

"I mean, you're going to hell and you won't lift a finger to stop it. Talk about low self-esteem." Dream Averie says, chuckling, "Then again, I guess it's not much of a life worth saving, now is it?" Averie watches her as they circle each other again, whispering to herself "Wake up, Averie. Come on, wake up." I mean, after all, you've got nothing outside of Andrew." They stop circling each other and are now back in their original positions, Averie by the door, Dream Averie by the desk, "You are nothing. You're as mindless and obedient as an attack dog." Averie frowns, "That -That's not true." Dream Averie cackles, "No? What are the things that you want? What are the things that you dream of? I mean, your car? That's Dad's. Your favorite leather jacket? Dad's. Your music? Dad's. Do you even have an original thought?" She ignores her, staying silent, "No. No, all there is, "Watch out for Andy. Look out for your little brother, girl!" You can still hear your Dad's voice in your head, can't you?" she motions with the weapon to her head, "Clear as a bell."

"Just shut up." she says, looking away, Dream Averie lowers the gun. "I mean, think about it ..." she begins to walk towards Averie, whose smile is fading, "... all he ever did is train you, boss you around. But Andrew, he doted on. Andrew, he loved." "I mean it. I'm getting pissed off..." She grabs her face, snarling, "Dad knew who you really were. A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument. Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died. Why should you?" "Son of a bitch!" Averie pushes her away hard, knocking her head into the wall above the desk. "My father was an obsessed bastard!" Dream Averie tries to get up and she kicks her down on the desk again, holding the weapon like a bat and hits Dream Averie once, and then pins her to the wall with it. "All that crap he dumped on me, about protecting Andrew! That was his crap. He's the one who couldn't protect his family. He-" she steps back and swings the weapon again, hitting her twice. "He's the one who let Mom die. Who wasn't there for Andrew. I always was! He wasn't fair! I didn't deserve what he put on me. And I don't deserve to go to Hell!" She backs away, hesitating for a moment, then shoots Dream Averie twice in the chest. She approaches Drean Averie looking at her. Suddenly her eyes flicker open and they're completely black, as when a demon possesses a human, Averie widens her eyes in fear and shock. She sits up, looking into her eyes, "You can't escape me, Averie. You're gonna die. And this? This is what you're gonna become!"

-

Collin is kneeling over Andrew, the bat hovering above his chest, "You can't stop me. There's nothing I can't do in here." "Because of the Dream Root." he answers, panting, "That's right." "Yeah? Well, you're forgetting something." He gets up, holding the bat, ready to swing down on him, "What's that?" he looks up and smiles, "I took the Dream Root too." "Collin!" a man yells in the distance, Collin turns to see his father, Henry, standing at the edge of the woods. "No. No..." he mutters, Henry begins walking towards him, "D-Dad?" "You answer me when I'm talking to you, boy." Collin backs away from Andrew and Henry, dropping the bat, "No..." Andrew gets his one wrist untied and starts untying the other one, Collin trips while going back, Andrew quickly gets up and hits him across his face with the bat.

-

The Walkers wake up, panting. They look over at each other, Averie is clearly shaken by what just happened.

~Motel Hallway. Later~

Dean and Andrew walk around the corner, then down the hallway together. Andrew has a key to the room in his hands, "So you did a little dream-weaving of your own in here, huh?" Dean asks, "Yeah. I just sort of concentrated and it happened, you know?" "Didn't have anything to do with... you know, your psychic stuff?" He looks at him, and they stop walking, Dean turns and looks at him, he shakes his head, "No. I mean, I don't think so." "Good, good." Andrew swallows, looking a little worried, he turns to the room and unlocks the door pushing it open. Averie is on the phone with her back to the door, hanging up as she hears the door open. She turns around, " Hey, you guys seen Brianna? She's not in her room. She's not answering her phone." Andrew shakes his head, " She must've taken off or something." " Just like that? It's a little weird." Dean scoffs, " Yeah, well, if you ask me what's weird is why she helped us in the first place." she looks at him, " I thought you saved her life." " What the hell are you talking about?" " The thing in Flagstaff." Andrew turns around and looks at him as well, " That thing in Flagstaff was an amulet. I gave her a good deal, that's all."

She gets confused at that, Andrew looks at her, also confused. " Well, why did y-?" " You two better check your pockets." Dean says, Andrew reaches into his pockets, Averie searches hers, he sighs, " Not literally." Averie stops what she's doing and slowly looks up at Andrew and turns to the safe in the closet, " No, no, no, no." She goes over to the safe and opens it, but it's empty, Andrew races up behind her " The Colt..." she looks up at him, slamming the safe shut. "Brianna stole the Colt!" Dean groans, " Damn it!" she starts moving around the room, " Pack your crap." Andrew looks at her, " Why? Where are we going?" " We're gonna go hunt the bitch down." 

-

The Walkers are standing by the open trunk, Averie is zipping a bag closed and Andrew puts his own in. She looks at him, nervous, " Hey, Andy. I was wondering. When you were in my head, what did you see?" he shrugs, " Uh, just Collin. He kept me separated from you. Easier to beat my brains out that way, I guess.  What about you? You never said." she sighs in relief, " Nothing. I was looking for you the whole time." She takes the keys out of the lock to the trunk and closes it,  Andrew sighs as he sits down, Averie looks thoughtful for a moment. "Andrew ." " Yeah?" he looks at her, but she doesn't look at him, " I've been doing some thinking, and... Well, the thing is... I don't wanna die." her voice breaks as she tears up, " I don't wanna go to hell." He swallows, not answering right away, then nods his head softly, " All right. Yeah. We'll find a way to save you. I promise." She looks over at him before looking away nodding, " _You can't escape me, Averie. You're gonna die. And this? This is what you're gonna become!_ " echoes in her head, she starts the Impala, glancing up at the rearview mirror. Her eyes are all black, which causes her to tense up, "Av?" Andrew asks. She looks at him, breathing shakily, "I'm fine..just fine." he gives a worried look as she drives out of the parking lot.


End file.
